The X philosophy
The mighty X Factor is upon us and - even after swapping that nice lad from Salford for the man with the most famous moobs in show business - is set to keep millions of viewers entranced, thrilled and enraged every Saturday night for the coming months.
The programme is scorned by musicians and mocked by critics yet adored by enough of the British public to make it one of the top television events of the year.
Why is that? I think the key to the show’s success lies in the philosophy of the X Factor.
It was Aristotle who said that we should all strive for excellence in our lives. Just as we say that a knife is good if it performs its function properly – eg. cutting vegetables - we can be judged by how well we carry out the function of being human.
One essential aspect of being a good person is to find where your natural skills lie and to develop those skills to your full potential. So those of us who watched an incredible young singer from Northern Ireland perform a stunning version of Elton John’s My Song witnessed someone with great natural talent expressing that talent to the best of her abilities.
Conversely, there are some truly terrible acts that probably shouldn’t be put on television at all. When it’s bad it’s really bad and these people have completely misunderstood where their natural talents lie – unfortunately being ridiculed on national television is a tough way of finding out about a fundamental lesson.
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