“What if they kicked the mirror-maker out of town and awarded the actual worker?”
This is the question I keep asking myself. In the story as written, the village rewards the clever skilled worker over the diligent skilled worker. This might work in the short term, and the clever worker’s gamble pays off for him personally as he sees increased business from increased prestige. If we consider the village (or the judges) to be actors in the game, however, they act in their own disinterest by disincentivizing craftsmanship in favor of craftiness. And here I am, arguing for or against a parable...
The advantage of creative writing is you get to write all the characters. and all the scenarios and re-write so that this character wins and that character loses. While we like to think we discovered the cleverness as the villagers did; in reality the story was created to boast the writers ability to demonstrate this piece of cleverness. not really as a reflection on the real world...
“What if they kicked the mirror-maker out of town and awarded the actual worker?”
This is the question I keep asking myself. In the story as written, the village rewards the clever skilled worker over the diligent skilled worker. This might work in the short term, and the clever worker’s gamble pays off for him personally as he sees increased business from increased prestige. If we consider the village (or the judges) to be actors in the game, however, they act in their own disinterest by disincentivizing craftsmanship in favor of craftiness. And here I am, arguing for or against a parable...
emphasising again—cute story.
The advantage of creative writing is you get to write all the characters. and all the scenarios and re-write so that this character wins and that character loses. While we like to think we discovered the cleverness as the villagers did; in reality the story was created to boast the writers ability to demonstrate this piece of cleverness. not really as a reflection on the real world...