Word: paradoxically
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...drive to equal this uber-alum's conquest of the troika has become one of the defining characteristics of undergraduate--especially senior--life at Harvard. Curiously though, this drive is often self-defeating. For the more success we attain, the less-satisfied we feel. Call it the prestige paradox...
...prestige paradox works like this: An enterprising, promising high school senior manages to secure admission to Harvard. Soon, this lucky kid is greeted with admiration and awe by those who hear of this impressive honor. The glow continues to follow our golden child throughout her college life. Every time she meets someone on an airplane, runs into an old friend from high school or talks to Aunt Clara, she is reminded of her special distinction. She can't help but begin to define herself...
...only way to maintain this fragile, prestige-based self-image, then, is to acquire more prestige. Hence, the paradox: The constant hunger always leaves one, well, hungry...
...which points to a paradox. Home schooling can provide a broadly accepted, large-scale alternative to the public schools, or it can provide a true sanctuary from the wider culture. But it cannot do both, because the more attractive the movement becomes to children in the public schools, the more it will start to resemble them. Warehouse No. 2 may look like evidence that home schooling is eclipsing public education in the city of Wichita. Then again, it could be the other way around...
There is much debate and no single explanation for the paradox. To begin with, economists generally agree that official figures understate productivity, though they quarrel sharply about how much and why. It is clear too that many buyers fail to get the most out of their computers--some because they try to make the computers perform functions to which they are not really adaptable; others because they buy computers more powerful and more expensive than they truly need; others still because they fail to appreciate how hard it will be to train their employees to use the machines effectively...