The world as I see it.
I received a number of positive comments after my posting on the importance of courage. Thank you to everyone who commented.
One person observed that not everyone is endowed with courage and asked if it is learned or innate? Are we born with courage or is it learned?
My immediate reaction was “What a great question for the philosophy section of the French baccalaureate exam!”*
But what about it? Is courage learned or are we born with it?
In my opinion, we are not born with courage. We are primarily born with our instincts and one of the most basic instincts is survival. Survival means seeking safety and avoiding conflict. We also have an instinct to defend our family and clan ― but this is still from an aspect of safety and survival.
Courage means the willingness to accept risk and danger to ourselves for a higher cause. Related is altruism ― the willingness to sacrifice self for others. Both are values and values are something that we learn.
No, we are not born with courage. We learn it. Not all of us learn courage to the same extent.
You may not agree with me but, That is how I see things.
Mark Louis Uhrich
Maisons-Laffitte, France, 21 February 2011
©Copyright Mark Uhrich
*The series of standardized national exams taken by French students at the end of their high school studies. They establish that the student has successfully ended their studies and serve as the entrance exams for university level studies. In the US, there is not such a standardized exam on a national level and the “College Board” exams have been developed to serve the same purpose.