Over the centuries and the millennia, humanity has come to think that it is superior that the other species of the animal kingdom. Humanity is civilized. Civilization has become the cornerstone of history as we know it. We’re not the barbarians that we once started out like. Not the animals. We’ve evolved. We’ve become intelligent. We’ve become superior.

I beg to differ. Humans are just as much animal-like as they were when they first started. Just the means and the methods have changed. And in some cases, animals are better than humans. Animals don’t systematically plan and organize the destruction of masses of their kind. Though they may kill their kind, it is generally for self defence or with reason and even then, they do not organize concentration camps and devise means of excruciating torture, where death becomes preferable to life itself.

Humans with their advancement of technology, engineering, intelligence and everything else have still missed the boat on the overall ability to really understand the meaning if the word civilized. History is witness to the immense cruelties inflicted on man, by man. Be it for the cause of money and greed, religion and belief (probably the most scary in terms of the scale of attrocities that have been committed in the name of religion…), lust, power, fame, fortune.

Even today, the same story contiues… in one form or the other. Some of the issues surrounding the major conflicts of contemporary times are completely incomprehensible to me and defy my ability to have sympathy for either side. As to me they’re both being irrational and there has to be a way and a compromise to be able to resolve their differences without being such mules.

The only explanation which works as a cop-out is one which removes all the basis for even attempting to understand humanity… we’re still animals… and nothings changed.

On the first day of his class on entrepreneurship, my professor Jack Thorne gave us the definition of Entrepreneurship: “Insane perseverance in the face of complete resistance.” At the time, I was not officially enrolled in his class. Not because I didn’t want to, but because the class was already full and I was enrolled in the School of Computer Science – not in the business school. But in those forts few minutes of the first class, Jack had given me the ultimate argument to make sure he accepted me into his class. I would not take no for an answer.

That was nearly five years ago. And as I think about any human achievement that has ever been attained by the great people in the world, a trait which stands out is perseverance. Perseverance which encompasses patience, tolerance, pain, regret, hard work, diligence, intelligence, vision, passion, courage, strength and will power. So I have to thank Jack for that lesson… and for that definition which seems to be more and more relevant every day.

It seems that the perception of an “entrepreneur” is bi-polar. To most people the word entrepreneur is often synonymous to the words “con-artist”, “opportunist”. When someone is “enterprising” it could mean that they are using means that you otherwise wouldn’t. Unfortunately, that commonplace thinking berates the great entrepreneurs of our time. Most entrepreneurs are different because the things which make an entrepreneur tick are different. And yes, several of them posess character flaws as well, but they also have traits which make them rise to unprecedented levels – be it Bill Gates (Microsoft), Henry Ford (Ford), Sam Walton (Walmart), Akio Morita (Sony) or the numerous others.

The definition of Entreprenuership above is incomplete. It needs a qualifier. Insane perseverance is okay, but only if you know you have a chance, however slim that chance may be. A smart entrepreneur or anyone for that matter, will know how to pick the his of her battles and when to concede and move on to other options.

The ability of humans to persevere and surmount the odds that come their way is fascinating. Somehow… we always survive and and make a comeback.