The Myth of the Apple-to-Apple Comparison

 The Myth of the Apple-to-Apple Comparison

Two apples from the same tree do not taste the same.

The roots are identical. The branches are the same. But the taste differs.

Now, imagine someone likes the first apple but dislikes the second.

Is that the apple’s fault? No.
Is it the person’s fault? Also no.
We simply struggle to accept that taste can differ — even when everything else seems the same.

But here’s the truth: another person might love both apples, precisely because of their uniqueness.
In the end, it is always the user who decides what is tasty. Not the tree. Not tradition.

The Irony We Ignore

We’ve all heard the phrase “apple-to-apple comparison.”
It’s supposed to mean a fair, like-for-like comparison.

But here’s the irony — apples themselves vary in colour, shape, size, and taste.
So comparing two apples is never truly equal.

Yet in business, we compare two salespeople working in the same market and call it “apples to apples.”
If they work in different markets, we suddenly say, “That’s not apples to apples.”

Why this double standard?
If apples themselves aren’t identical, why do we reject comparing an apple with a pineapple, but pretend two apples are perfectly comparable?

From Apples to Humans

Every apple is unique.
Every human being is unique.

So instead of comparing — instead of ranking, judging, and labelling — what if we simply learned to get the best out of each person?
What if we helped them cherish their own uniqueness?

We all know, deep down, that we don’t want to be compared.
Yet we compare others with others.
We compare ourselves with others.

These comparisons either put us down or put others down.
And more often than not, they become the root of interpersonal conflict — something most of us have painfully experienced.

A Simple, Kinder Way

If an apple’s taste doesn’t appeal to you, you don’t curse the apple. You simply look for another apple.

Similarly, when a person doesn’t meet your needs — in work, friendship, or love — it is better to look for another person or another role for them.
Not to dump on them.
Not to compare and belittle them.

Let us stop the comparison.
Let us start honouring uniqueness — in apples, and in humans.

 

M.L.Narendra Kumar