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May 20 SuzhouSuzhou is a town in Jiangsu Province fairly close to Shanghai. Carolyn and I took the express train there last weekend (May 18). The train made only one quick stop and travelled at a speed of 205 km/h. The tickets were RMB 26 one-way per person. We reached Suzhou in about 40 minutes. Suzhou is famous for its gardens, its Chinese Opera, its inexpensive but quality wedding gowns, and the softness of its local dialect. We went first to TIGER HILL. The tickets to get in were RMB 60 - quite pricey (and more expensive than the train tickets!) Tiger Hill had an old pagoda. The lineup to get in was too long, so we didn't bother. After a very salty lunch, we proceeded to Suzhou's most famous garden with a classic name - THE HUMBLE ADMINISTRATOR'S GARDEN. It began raining hard, so we waited a bit before entering. But the drizzle made it ever so romantic and beautiful, making up for the ticket price of RMB 70 per person. This garden has little Chinese gazebos on water with quaint bridges and is very lush with greenery.
The third garden we visited (Suzhou's second most famous) is a masterpiece of sculpted rock called THE LION FOREST GARDEN. Check out the photo album for the pics we snapped.
2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 3 Results2008 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS - RESULTS
SERIES A: #2 Pittsburgh beat #6 Philadelphia 4 games to 1
2008 WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS - RESULTS
SERIES B: #1 Detroit beat #5 Dallas 4 games to 2
ROUND 4: 2008 STANLEY CUP FINALS!
Pittsburgh vs. Detroit
May 17 Human Relations 09: The Issue of Authority and Milgram's 37At one time, we were expected to obey, without question, the authority of the king. Submission to the authority of ecclesiastics was called for as well.
We thought we had outgrown this silly, childish practice. We reveled in the judgments rendered by the Nuremberg trials held after the conclusion of World War II, because they succeeded in promoting the concept that following orders can never be used as an excuse to inflict suffering on others.
However, Stanley Milgram conducted what is now a very famous experiment which not only tested how willing people are to obey authority but also when faced with contrary questions of morality. Participants were told the experiment was all about the role of punishment in learning. A learner (who was, in reality, an actor) was strapped to a chair with electrodes on his arms. The participants, invited to take on the role of "teacher", one by one, asked this "learner" a series of questions. They were told that a wrong answer meant they had to shock the learner by means of an electric generator. In reality there were no shocks. The generator had an indicator ranging from 15 volts (slight shock) to 450 volts (danger: severe shock). The "teacher" was asked to increase the shock by 15 volts for each subsequent wrong answer.
When the machine reached 75 to 105 volts, the teacher could hear the learner grunting through the wall. At 150 volts, he screamed "Get me out of here! I refuse to go on!" When the teacher questioned continuing, the experiment leader, dressed in a white lab coat, replied, "You cannot stop now. The experiment depends on your continuing compliance." As the shock voltage increased, the learner cried out, "I can't stand the pain." At 300 volts he pounded on the wall demanding to be let out. When the dial reached 330 volts, there was no longer any noise coming from the other room. The experimenter told the teacher that the lack of response should be considered an incorrect answer and shocks should still be given. The experiment concluded when the highest shock level was reached.
Milgram found that 65% of the participants would continue until the shock level reached the maximum—450 volts. The conclusion of the experiment was that people will obey an authority figure even if it means causing pain and suffering to others. Moreover, Milgram found that there was a tendency of the teacher to devalue the learner, saying such things as "he is so stupid, he deserves to be shocked."
It seems that the world is still deeply troubled with the issue of authority. Most workplaces have "bosses"—people who tell us what to do. If we don't, they have the power to cut off our livelihood. In China, and perhaps many other countries, bosses often take advantage of employees by asking them, for example, to work overtime for free. They tell them, if they don't comply, a replacement for them can easily be found. By the employees, the employer rules, by their means he subsists, by their aid he triumphs over his competitors. Yet how disdainfully, the boss looks upon his subjects. How strange! How very strange!
At the end of the year, bosses around the world appoint themselves into positions of judges and evaluate us and our work. They tell us what we did right, what we did wrong, how we can improve. However, no one ever evaluates the bosses and their work. Why is that?
All of these problems with authority stem from an erroneous belief which is that some people are more valuable or more important than others. How often does the term V.I.P. get thrown around? Because we look at other people as being better than ourselves, we subconsciously agree to bow ourselves to their directives.
In reality, we were all created from the same bio-dust. And the reason for this is so that no one would ever consider exalting himself over someone else. We are equal. When we die, we all turn back to dust again. It matters not what someone's title is: Mr., Dr., Sir. It matters not how much money and wealth he has accumulated. It matters not what level of academic education he has acquired. All those accomplishments mean nothing: one day, he will become plant food.
Logically, if we are all equal—which I believe to be true—then it follows that no human being has authority over another. We all have different capacities, talents, abilities, and roles to play when we work together in a company, but each one is as valuable as everyone else. In an oil company, for example, some people are administrators, some marketers and salesmen, some engineers, and so on. Salaries vary according to experience and seniority. But the bottom line is that everyone is equally valuable to the company's well-being.
Here's a question then: If no one should be considered in a position of authority, then who makes the big decisions? This is where the revolutionary tool of consultation comes in. This I will talk about later. May 14 Utada Rocks!Last month I profiled Chinese Popular Music to introduce it and many of its stars to English-speakers. Chinese music is often referred to as "C-Pop". Most East Asian countries have their own music and stars. But the biggest outside of China are, perhaps, Japan and Korea. Japanese pop music is called "J-Pop" and Korean is "K-Pop". As I'm not as familiar with the music of those two nations, I doubt if I'll go into it in depth. You kind of have to live in the place to get to know its popular culture. However, I will, from time to time, introduce the odd album or artist from those and maybe other Asian nations. Recently I listened to an album that knocked my socks off prompting me to talk about…
The daughter of two Japanese musicians living in New York was destined to rise to the top. Her name—Utada, Hikaru. Her debut album, First Love, released in 1999, smashed all records for album sales in Japan, selling over 7.5 million copies there and over 10 million copies worldwide. A few more hit albums and a string of hit singles has made her a legacy.
Sadly, she met the same racism in the United States as did Chinese singers like CoCo Lee. Because Americans and other westerners view the music industry as a blacks-and-whites-only club, her 2004 English language album Exodus was ignored by the radio and the public, despite the involvement of big name producers and song writers.
Utada released her seventh (I believe) studio album two months ago. I haven't found it in the record stores in Shanghai yet. So I had a listen online and, man, is it good! The album is called Heart Station. I'll play a couple of its tracks on Peltonator's over the next few weeks.
May 08 100 Days to Beijing Games - Promo VideoIn the 1980s a number of British pop stars got together to sing "Do They Know It's Christmas?" All proceeds from the song went as aid to Africa to relieve a famine crisis. Shortly afterwards, Canadian singers got together to sing "Tears Are Not Enough" for the same purpose. I believe the Americans did something similar as well. It was really neat to see a group of high-profile celebrities, each one singing a line from the song.
Well, the Chinese have recently done something similar. The purpose is different, though. A song and video have been produced featuring a large number of Chinese singers, each singing a line from the song. Its purpose is to promote the Beijing Olympic Games. It was released 100 days before the games begin. I'm not going to bother making a list of all the singers participating. But they include Gigi Leung, Stefanie Sun, Han Hong, Na Ying, Alexander Wang, Karen Mok, and many, many more. It's … very cool! You can watch the video via the following link:
Human Relations 08: Human Beings Have a Dual NaturePreviously, I mentioned a couple of problems with psychology. Perhaps its biggest failing is that its theories and applications operate under the assumption that the human being has a single nature. I believe this assumption came not from science but from superstition. In a number of historical legends, we read about somebody possessed by an evil spirit. This evil spirit caused him to have temper tantrums and be abusive towards others. A witch doctor or healer was called in who worked his powers, causing the "demon" to flee the individual.
Sounds fantastic? Consider that the biggest-selling book of all-time, none other than The Bible, is littered with accounts of such occurrences.
I believe that this ancient idea—that evil spirits possessed people causing them to behave badly—has influenced modern thinking in a big way. How often do we hear things like this: "You can't bottle-up your anger. You must let it out or it will eat away at you." Here, anger is the "evil spirit". It is inside the person, possessing him, directing his behaviour in a bad way. Psychology (at least many of its schools of thought) says that a therapist ("witch doctor" / healer) must help the individual to let out his anger (cast out the demon). Once he is freed of this dark substance, he will be himself again and behave well.
I heard of a married couple who joined a therapy group. The husband was encouraged to "let out" his anger at his wife, the anger that had been possessing him for so long. He did, and ended up breaking his wife's arm. This action was applauded by the therapists and the group. Now his anger was gone, so it was assumed he would treat his wife well from then on.
This concept—that anger or other negative feelings is a kind of substance that is produced in the body and has to be released—is dead wrong because it assumes that we have only one nature. Perhaps an analogy would make things more clear.
Let's say that there is a glass of black liquid from which we are always drinking and the liquid is slightly poisonous. Naturally, if we wanted to avoid being poisoned, we would have to purge the liquid from our systems from time to time. This black liquid represents negative feelings: lust, anger, jealousy, and so on. Suppose, however, that, in reality, there are two glasses. One with the black liquid (negative feelings) and one with a different, clear liquid (virtues: love, mercy, patience, kindness, etc.). We have a straw. We can choose whether to draw from the black liquid or the clear liquid. By the way, the black liquid tastes much better and has a drug which stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain. When someone has a temper tantrum, what he is actually doing is placing the straw in the black liquid and drinking from it. Rather than expunging the liquid from his system, what is called for is getting him to shift his straw and drink from the clear liquid.
I believe that we indeed have these two sources, that determine our behaviour, built into us. One of them is what we may call our primal or animal nature and the other is our human nature. Our animal nature consists of our appetites and instincts, cravings for reproduction, for food, the fight or flight syndrome that protects us from enemies, what have you. Our human nature is our faculty of reason, rational thought, the values that lead us to respect others, treat them well, seek unity and harmony with them. If our human nature is weak or remains undeveloped, our animal appetites take over and we become even worse than the wildest beasts. We surrender our will and our sense of reason and humanity to our cravings and selfish desires. Our goal in life should be to develop, exercise and strengthen our human nature so that it continually dominates over and controls our animal instincts. If we don't pursue that goal then we continue down the path that led such fictitious characters as Darth Vader to be seduced by the "dark side".
When we allow such erroneous concepts of "letting out" our negative emotions to guide us, all we are doing is getting into the habit of allowing our animal side to take over and dominate our actions. We are being seduced by the black liquid and drink more and more of its poison until we abandon the clear completely. May 05 2008 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: ROUND 2 RESULTS2008 EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS - RESULTS
SERIES A: #6 Philadelphia beat #1 Montreal 4 games to 1
SERIES B: #2 Pittsburgh beat #5 NY Rangers 4 games to 1
2008 WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS - RESULTS
SERIES C: #1 Detroit beat #6 Colorado 4 games to 0
SERIES D: #5 Dallas beat #2 San Jose 4 games to 2
ROUND 3 MATCHUPS
2008 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
SERIES A: #2 Pittsburgh vs. #6 Philadelphia
2008 WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
SERIES B: #1 Detroit vs. #5 Dallas May 03 Human Relations 07: Summary of the ConceptsOkay, so far I've presented the following ideas:
1. How we treat others is extremely important in both the livelihood of the individual as well as society.
2. Behaving like the beasts of the field is unworthy of the human being.
3. Indulging in our own devices is just as harmful to others as treating them badly.
4. Rules of conduct don't take freedom away; they give us freedom.
5. The tongue often does more damage than physical violence.
6. The legal system is inadequate to deal with the scope of human misconduct.
7. We are not responsible for how others treat us.
8. Rather than behaving in ways designed to elicit being treated well by others, we should simply behave right.
9. The main cause of bad conduct is ignorance.
10. We can't just try to tolerate and deal with bad behaviour, but need to educate ourselves and others.
11. Training in morals and good conduct is far more important than academic education.
12. Children will grow up in whatever way they are trained.
13. Children—the future directors of society—are being taught less and less about how to behave properly.
Next I'll write about some popular concepts on the subject, which I believe to be erroneous, then get into specifics about how to treat each other and how not to. May 01 Human Relations 06: Good Behaviour Is the Foundation of EducationTraining in proper conduct and morals is much more important than academic study. Which is preferable: a child who, though lacking in scholastic knowledge, is well-behaved, courteous, cleanly, polite, and helpful or one who is deeply versed in all the sciences and arts, but is rude, selfish, dirty, dishonest, and arrogant? Clearly the first is preferable, simply because he is of benefit to society. A business that hires him, in the future, isn't going to look into all his examination marks in school, they want to know if he is reliable, helpful, agreeable, and trustworthy. The scholar with the dark character is harmful to others. Of course, if the child is trained to be both knowledgeable and virtuous, that would be supreme.
While a tree is a seedling, the gardener can guide its growth, so it is upright. But if the gardener neglects it too long, the tree's crooked state cannot be corrected. It has proven to be difficult to correct a person's character and bad habits after adolescence has passed. If a child is trained while young to overcome his lusts and passions and acquire good qualities and attributes, he can be of benefit to humanity.
Because the root cause of wrongdoing is ignorance, the individual must be educated in morals and virtues to the highest degree possible so that he will have instilled within him a sense of human dignity and not be consumed with lustful appetites.
When we consider that nowadays no one is educating the children—the future movers and shakers of society—in what matters most, we have a gravely serious problem. What matters most, as stated above, is not academia, not science, and reading, writing, and arithmetic but behaviour. Modern parents are so busy with work, many of them expect the school teachers to deal with it. School teachers are called upon to teach academics only and expect the parents to do it. And each successive generation is growing up with less and less virtue. Many parents don't know why their children are so bad. In order to keep them quiet and occupied, they throw them video games and other devices like throwing a noisy dog a bone. And the children are learning nothing. |
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