anti-superiority complex
I'm back from my pseudo-cyberspace sabbatical!
So what's this anti-superiority complex mumbo-jumbo all about? In my ultimate quest for the fullness of life (ahem ahem), I often encounter instances when I'm tempted to violate the 8th Commandment which states, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
If there's one thing that irks me, it's the high-and-mighty-I-am-the-best-and-everyone-else-is-incompetent behavior. There are appropriate situations where one is allowed to blow his own horn, but doing it all the time? Oh come on. Each of us on this planet have equal footing when it comes to dignity.
I remember the poem by John Godfrey Saxe entitled Blindmen and the Elephant. Each of the blind men was so convinced that their description of the elephant (based on their tactile senses) is the best and most representative among the rest. See, there is a tendency for people to believe that the world can be explained by their field of specialization. Geez. It takes a whole lot of humility to accept that what we know is just a teeny weeny part of the entire cosmic story.
In the olden times, this kind of narrow-mindedness got people killed! Ptolemy said the world was the center of the universe (but I think he didn't die because of that) but he was wrong, Hitler said that the Aryans were destined to rule the world, etc etc.
Anyway, my suggestion to, well, all of us is that we practice passive resistance. In my realm, silence does not mean yes...for me it means hell no. So, inasmuch as it makes us grit our teeth to tolerate people who degrade our specializations, convictions, and our place in society...let us remember that our passive resistance makes us civilized people.
So what's this anti-superiority complex mumbo-jumbo all about? In my ultimate quest for the fullness of life (ahem ahem), I often encounter instances when I'm tempted to violate the 8th Commandment which states, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
If there's one thing that irks me, it's the high-and-mighty-I-am-the-best-and-everyone-else-is-incompetent behavior. There are appropriate situations where one is allowed to blow his own horn, but doing it all the time? Oh come on. Each of us on this planet have equal footing when it comes to dignity.
I remember the poem by John Godfrey Saxe entitled Blindmen and the Elephant. Each of the blind men was so convinced that their description of the elephant (based on their tactile senses) is the best and most representative among the rest. See, there is a tendency for people to believe that the world can be explained by their field of specialization. Geez. It takes a whole lot of humility to accept that what we know is just a teeny weeny part of the entire cosmic story.
In the olden times, this kind of narrow-mindedness got people killed! Ptolemy said the world was the center of the universe (but I think he didn't die because of that) but he was wrong, Hitler said that the Aryans were destined to rule the world, etc etc.
Anyway, my suggestion to, well, all of us is that we practice passive resistance. In my realm, silence does not mean yes...for me it means hell no. So, inasmuch as it makes us grit our teeth to tolerate people who degrade our specializations, convictions, and our place in society...let us remember that our passive resistance makes us civilized people.
11:04 PM
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