The Korea Times
The first successful ascent of Mount Everest by Edmund Hillary took place in 1953. During the decade that followed, only around 150 people managed to reach the summit. Today, however, Everest is climbed by hundreds every year. Did human capability suddenly evolve? Hardly. What changed was not the climber, but the system surrounding the climber. Oxygen tanks, fixed ropes, Sherpa support, sophisticated weather forecasting and, above all, a highly organized base camp transformed the “impossible mountain” into a “manageable challenge.” Everest teaches us a profound lesson: the probability of success is determined not only by individual effort, but by the design of the environment itself. The divided city of Nogales on the U.S.-Mexico border offers another revealing example. The people on both sides share the same ethnicity, cultural roots etc. Yet the quality of life differs dramatically between Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora. Household income, public infrastructure, safety and economic opportunity are sharply unequal. Is this merely a difference in talent or work ethic? More
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