Being free of having a meaning of life is not as easy as commonly thought. It is analogous to racism; most people are quick to deny being a racist, when in fact they are. Just because they consciously negate it, does not mean that they have no racial prejudice in them. In fact, their conscious negation makes it difficult for them to address the problem, because they don’t even know that they have a problem. Read »
The concept of ego as an image of oneself is incomplete and therefore misleading. One cannot form an image of oneself independent of the images of others one has. It is by creating contrast with others that one can form an image of oneself. When A speaks with B, the image of A’s self is created by contrasting himself with B. His ego, therefore, is a result of differentiating A and B. Then it follows that his ego between A and B is different from his ego between A and C. Read »
I’ve always been interested in reading the insiders’ views of the academia of philosophy. Philosophy has always been close to my heart, but I’ve always resisted entering the academia. I believe my ego has always wanted to, but my heart has always rejected it. Being Japanese with deeply ingrained Zen values, for me, an academic pursuit of philosophy was self-contradiction of sorts. When I read that Wittgenstein had always advised his students to leave the academic life and to get real jobs if they wanted to be a real philosopher, I felt vindicated (just another manifestation of my petty ego). Yet, my superficial ego has never been able to resist peeking into the academia every so often, and wondered what it’s like to be immersed in it. Read »
When my daughter was about two month old, she would cry from pulling her own hair. Apparently this is quite common. My parents told me that my sister did the same when she was a baby. A baby at that age is not aware of her own body. Her existence is strictly limited to the physical world, and there is nothing outside of her body that can see it objectively. Once we develop mental awareness of our own bodies, crying from pulling her own hair appears comical. We have transcended the physical world by developing intelligence that understands the causal relationship between pulling hair and feeling the pain. Read »
When I say the word Dixie, tolerance might not be the first thing that comes to your mind. After all, everyone knows that the South is full of hateful rednecks. Everyone knows that if you go to the South people will try to chase you around and hit you over the head with a bible. Everyone knows that Southern culture and bigotry go hand in hand. Read »
Most people perceive me as someone who simply does not understand emotions of others. This partly stems from the fact that I tend to create emotional situations. I do not like pretending, and I like to be direct, so I often say things many people would not dream of saying to someone’s face. For instance, I had brunch one day with my girlfriend and a friend I had just met recently who was a struggling artist. We finished eating and the check came. I grabbed the check to see what I owed, and my new friend said to me: “Oh, no, it’s OK, you don’t have to treat me.” Then I immediately replied: “Don’t worry; I have no intention of treating you.” Years later, my girlfriend remembered it, and told me that she could never say something like that. Such bluntness is often seen as a sign of emotional blindness, but I must defend myself here. Read »
A while ago, one of my friends suggested to write an essay about how I approach learning something new. It came up while we were talking about music. At the time, I had never thought about writing such a thing, but since then I realized that there is a consistent method by which I learn something new. I believe a large part of it came from my father. My approach is actually not so unique in Japan. I believe it has a basis in Zen Buddhism. If you study any form of traditional art in Japan, you’ll see it. Read »
By their intellectualism, the academic Left has alienated the very people they purport to help. They called them “the masses”, an entity consciously distinct from and inferior to themselves, the people who do not know how to think for themselves and are helplessly manipulated by the enemies of the Left. It is the duty of the academic elites of the Left, so they flatter themselves, that they protect and educate the ignorant masses. I believe this intellectual condescension and arrogance is partly responsible for the present popularity of the Republican Party. The masses do not want to be patronized by the intellectual elites. At last, they are speaking up against their own paternal figures. Read »
The people who claim they love you, are often the same people who take it out on you when they are in a bad mood. And, you might ask, “Out of the billions of people in the world, why do they have to choose someone they love?” I suppose in some ways it makes sense, because it can be argued that they love you because they can abuse you. If someone gave me $1,000 dollars every month for no reason, I suppose I would “love” him. If someone picked up every piece of trash I threw up in the air, I would “love” that person too. Why not? The problem is the use of the word “love” in these cases. Our idealized image of “love” is selfless, i.e., disinterested love, which is different from the use of the same word “love” in the examples above. I would use the word, “dependency” for those. It just so happens that in English the same word is used for both. The confusion stems from the fact that outward appearances in both cases are hardly distinguishable. Read »
Particularly in the West, there is a belief that one’s identity should always be consistent. Having multiple personalities is considered dishonest or even mentally disturbed. The ideal of our society asserts that I should always be myself no matter who I speak with. I argue that this is a misconception born out of the Western habit of seeking unchanging essence in every matter, and that such a belief could cause unnecessary pains in our lives. Read »
In his article entitled, “Critical Thinking in Japanese L2 Writing: Rethinking Tired Constructs,” Paul Stapleton discusses what he perceives as a new movement in Japan towards a more Western way of critical thinking. Although the speculative conclusions he draws from his research may hold some truths, what drew my attention was his process of investigation that a priori implies the conclusions, allowing himself in effect to pat himself on the back for the results he achieved. Read »
Noam Chomsky is doubly important: He is the world’s most famous and respected linguistic scientist in addition to being a well-known radical political writer. The Chicago Tribune describes Chomsky as “the most cited living author.” At the same time, he has been characterized as a writer whose work has been suppressed “because the gentlemen who own the major media don’t want you to know about Noam Chomsky.” It is paradoxical that such a well-known figure has trouble finding a publisher. The reason is that Chomsky’s name has been associated with the denial of one genocide and the minimization of another. Read »
We typically imagine a conformist to be conservative, someone who abides by the rules of the society, but in a society or community where rule-breaking is part of the norm, breaking rules would be a process of conformity. In this sense, conformity does not necessarily equal conservatism. That is, appearance is deceptive in discussing what conformity is. Read »
Boris Kortiak writes about why he writes. He hopes to find the answer by writing. Well, it’s the same thing we do with our lives; we live to find out why we live. Read »
I love Japan. But it isn’t all about cute teacups and bamboo placemats and good manners and steaming hot baths and the perfume of incense. When people ask me what Japan was like, I have trouble framing my answer, because it is so complicated. Read »
There is a controversy developing at Freedom High School in Oakley, California where a 15-year-old student Lisa McClelland wants to start a Caucasian club. Her rationale is: Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians have clubs, why couldn’t white people have one? I have to agree with her. I find any type of organization based on race to be racist. Telling her that she could not have something that people of other races could, is even more racist. The reason why a white girl is not allowed to form a white club is because white race is perceived to be superior in our culture. By disallowing her to form a Caucasian club, we would inadvertently be reinforcing this perception. Read »
Developing children into sexually healthy adults should be a natural progression, yet I find the path is rife with difficulty for both parent and child. Because the subject is so utterly personal, the first hurdle is getting past any inhibitions to discuss it. If we manage to get that far, then we must brace ourselves for the new adult image our children will reveal of themselves. Read »
Some recent discussion with some immigrant friends prompted an analysis of what a friend is. We all agreed that clichés like the giving up the shirt on his/her back for you was pretty much common, but we had great divergence when it came to the issue of criminal activities. Read »
Winning is beautiful and ugly at the same time. How do we cope with this apparent contradiction? How can we benefit from it without getting hurt by it? Read »
“Live like there is no tomorrow” is a popular piece of wisdom. Most of us have tried to imagine what that is like, and have figured that it would not work. But, at the same time, the idea of it resonates in us in some way. How can we interpret the wisdom beyond the apparent logistical problems? Read »
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