From: davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane)
Newsgroups: fj.misc
Subject: Re: There's-only-one-Truth-ism?
Date: 23 Jul 92 00:48:11 GMT
Distribution: fj
Organization: Aegis Society, Kyoto Japan

mtachiba@rkna50.riken.go.jp (Masahiko Tachibana) writes:

>How do you do, la..uhh, gentlemen!  It's my first post to this NG.

Nope, no ladies yet. And of course we are all gentleman :-)

>In article <2125@aegis.or.jp> davidg@aegis.or.jp (Dave McLane) writes:

>>I think this comes from two reasons. First off, it is pretty much a
>>given in Japanese culture that there is one, and only one, correct
>>way to do everything: thus there must be one, and only one correct
>>English.  Second,      [omission]

>	You get the point.
>	May I understand that your former opinion as follows?  Japanese
>tends to have mentality that he/she believes or lets him/herself believe 
>there's only one truth.  Too much simplification?

Probably too much simplification but I think it's relatively true
compared to other countries. IMHO, this kind of thinking is why "the
trains run on time", meaning that things work very very well in
Japan and the quality control is excellent. 

>	Anyway, I think it explains well the behavior of modern Japanese.
>One might find the same way of thinking and training of Zen-buddists.  
>The tendency was expanded after Meiji reconstruction.  Centralized 
>school education began and the teachers told their pupils "You are 
>born to be a slave of the Emperor".  After world war II, the Emperor 
>was replaced to money or a life surrounded by plenty of goods.  

According to Kurt Vonnegut (in //Fates Worse than Death//), Japan is what
Dr. Robert Redfield would call a "Folk Society":

   First of all, a Folk Society was isolated, and in an area it
   considered organically its own. It grew from that soil and no
   other. The break between the living and the dead was indistinct,
   and bonds of kinship crisscrossed every which way. There was such
   general agreement as to what life was all about and how people should
   behave in every conceivable situation that very little was debatable.

>	Simplification again.  Of course we have complex minds.  But why
>we pursue one correct answer or solution after all?  And how can we avoid
>that?  That's what I'm interested in.  	  

Why would you necessarily want to avoid it? There are some/many
people who joining or creating a Folk Society is how to find deep
and enduring contentment! 

>	For instance, the lower house passed the PKO related law. 
>LDP and some opinion leaders insist that it has no problem against 
>the Constitution because it works at the request from UN when a
>war or conflict is over.  Some are against it because UN is not
>always correct, but their voices don't seem to persuade the majorities.

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to have one and only one correct way
of doing things is to arrange things in a vertical structure and
then whatever the people at the top decide is, by definition, "correct". 

Unfortunately, while Japan may try and do this with the UN (that is,
let the UN define "correct"), I don't think this view is shared by
all the members of the UN who. Instead, I would guess, see it as a
place where people can get together to decide together. Only my idea.... 

>	Ah, I fell into a hole of pesimistic thoughts.  
>	Seriously, many countries all over the world is just in 
>the identity crisis.  Where shall we go, and how?  I think we have
>much to discuss.  

There seems two major trends in the world right now: 1) Folk
Societies (also known as Ethnic Minorities) are becoming
increasingly powerful (Czehcs and Slovaks) and 2) people are
becoming increasingly dependent on events around the world (effects
of atomic testing/accidents don't stop at national borders). 

>	I don't know this NG is proper place for that, though :-). 

Maybe not but it's interesting for me at least. Thanks for posting.

Dave

--
Dave McLane                                       davidg@aegis.or.jp
You're free to copy/quote/translate this as long as credit is given. 
Nagaokakyoshi, Kyoto Japan Tel: +81-75-951-1168 Fax: +81-75-957-1087
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