Vanity is good or is it?

So, what is your take on vanity? is it good or is it bad? Well, that was discussed or rather debated in this year's Bridging Minds. First of all, I must say that the concept is definitely very creative and makes debates a more approachable thing. This year, the debate has been turned into an infotainment programme almost into a musical with one of the speakers from the preposition team bursting out into a song. I wonder what next year's topic gonna be. And if you must know, the opposition team won the debate as well as the best performer award. I guess the preposition is right after all - bad news do sell! Nonetheless, I think that the proposition lost cause they put themselves in a pretty tight situation with their definition. They seem to be talking about the same thing. However, style wise, the proposition definitely wins hands down! I mean, the opposition should be jailed for commiting such despicable crimes of fashion! I have got no idea what they were wearing. Having said that though, the so called "stylist's" choice of outfit is definitely way off. The colors do not match, the shirt is too shiny and a lil bit too clingy to his body, which does not do him justice and that hair! goodness! the hair! The "singer" too should just pull back on the accesories, she almost made herself look like a christmas tree.

Well, anyway, I did a little researching myself. I found out that vanity actually means - "In conventional parlance, vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. In many religions vanity is considered a form of self-idolatry, in which one rejects God for the sake of one's own image, and thereby becomes divorced from the graces of God. The stories of Lucifer and Narcissus (who gave us the term narcissism), and others, attend to a pernicious aspect of vanity." "Philosophically-speaking, vanity may refer to a broader sense of egoism and pride. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that "vanity is the fear of appearing original: it is thus a lack of pride, but not necessarily a lack of originality." One of Mason Cooley's aphorisms is "Vanity well fed is benevolent. Vanity hungry is spiteful."
In early Christian teachings vanity is considered an example of pride, one of the seven deadly sins." Of course, that was extracted from Wikipedia.com

Hmm, from the definition itself, vanity seems like a bad thing. As such, it is no wonder the oppostion won, huh? If that is the case, then i guess, the motion itself is rather biased. Most definitions of vanity refer to the excessiveness of taking pride in one's self. However so the definition may be, I believe that vanity, like everything else in life, has its own goods and bads. I would vote slightly more for the good side, though. After all, I am working in an industry where vanity reigns supreme. Vanity brings me food like it does with everybody else due to the multiplier effect. I have no qualms about that. I mean I make big bucks from it, as mentioned by the proposition team. From my perspective, believing excessively in one's abilities and attractiveness equates to self confidence. And what better way to increase productivity than self confidence. With that "I-can-do-it" attitude, I am sure employers are really happy about that.

Also, are we all not vain, in one way or another. Even the government and schools that we are brought up in are vain. Think of it, they do believe in the pride of the organisation. Just take a look at some of their uniforms, they insist that the students wear them. Isn't that a sign of vanity? But isn't it good? I mean, we are look smart, look presentable, maybe not so fashionable and trendy but it still beats having kids mismatching their outfits or wearing their shirts and tailored pants with running shoes! Running shoes? My goodness, don't get me started on that.

Alright, alright. I know I might bore you guys a lil bit with the whole motion. To keep it short, I dont think vanity is good. It is essential and not just for appearance wise but for self confidence, self pride, health and economic growth. It has become second nature to us.

But, what do you think? What is your take on it?