How Ninjas Freed Me
One of the great historical novels that nobody reads anymore is "Shogun" by James Clavell.
Shogun is about an English sailor in the seventeenth century who becomes stranded in Japan, and involuntarily becomes involved in a large feudal war there. When John Blackthorne first arrives in Japan, he is completely appalled at the "barbaric" Japanese, whose culture is completely alien to his own. But during the course of the novel, John slowly assimilates into Japanese society, learning their ways, their system of honor. By the end of the novel, he has become so Japanese that he is now hostile to "those filthy Europeans" that he once belonged to.
Oh yeah, and there's a lot of fighting, naval battles, samurai combat, and other violent situations.
But there's one scene that truly sticks out in my mind. John is ordered to learn Japanese so that he can train a company of samurai to use muskets. The local daimyo demands that his village teach John the language, and that if he is not fluent within six months, the village will be burned to the ground and every resident crucified.
John, with his European morals, protests. He demands that this condition be withdrawn. The daimyo refuses. John declares that he will not have innocent blood on his hands, and threatens to commit suicide.
"He's bluffing," says one of the daimyo's advisors. Suicide, specifically seppuku, is a privelege for the samurai class, a part of their code of honor, something that "barbaric Westerners" know nothing about.
But John takes his knife and thrusts it towards his heart, stopped at the last second by the daimyo. The blade had gone a half an inch into the flesh.
It is said that when one has committed himself to suicide, and has taken the thrust, yet lives to tell the tale, goes through a rebirth of some kind. Not knowing whether he is alive or dead, John goes into a trance. He suddenly becomes aware of every drop of rain hitting the ground, every leaf on every tree fluttering in the wind. He becomes the Tao, the rock against which the waves of life rush in vain.
At this moment, John Blackthorne becomes Japanese. He becomes samurai.
-------
Of course, I'm a filthy Westerner. I know nothing about honor. I know even less about nature. I look out my window and all I see is row after row of concrete and parked cars. If there is a Tao, it isn't allowed within the Perimeter.
And suicide? Forget it. I'm an atheist, remember? From all the available evidence, it follows that this life is it. After this, you're wormfood. You might as well play until it says GAME OVER.
But I guess the lesson I learned from "Shogun" is that culture and tradition can be harmful. Pretty much every civilization has these social structures which dictate how people live their lives, be it religion or tradition or code of honor. Back in the day, a Dutchman was raised by the Dutch, and rarely left their little Dutch village. The customs are all you know.
I do believe that people's lives are very much controlled by the social environment. If your parents are Christian, you will most likely be a Christian. If you live in a town of racists, you will most likely be a racist. You'd like to think that your values and behavior is chosen by free-will, but nothing could be farther from the truth. A monkey will almost always act like a monkey. A palm tree will almost always act like a palm tree. And a human being from area X will pretty much act like the people around him or her.
And since people are so in love with the idea of absolute morality, it is no surprise that when cultures meet, there is much hostility, judgement, condemnation, and ultimately violence. If I know that I'm right, and you act differently, then you must be evil, correct?
But things are changing, irreversibly. We can thank the internet for that. The world is becoming smaller. Chinamen are no longer creatures we hear about in history books, we can chat with them online for free all night long. We see hundreds of different religions all around the world. We see tons of different cultures, different ways of life, different morals, values, behaviors.
It's becoming harder and harder to look at your own little village and your own customs and morals, and believe that your way is correct and the vast majority of human beings on this planet are evil. I mean, some people will back up this outdated shit till the very end, but it sounds sillier and sillier every day.
Eventually you have to come to the realization that everything you've learned has an element of bullshit to it, because it comes from biased sources. Your mommy is not infallible. Neither is your president or your pastor or your holy book. What is absolute truth to you is not the absolute truth to everyone.
The cure is knowledge. The more you know, the less you judge. The more facts you have, the less assumptions you make. The more you can prove, the less opinions matter.
One of the most enlightening moments I've ever had was when I realized just how much of the crap that people take for granted these days is completely imaginary. There is no such thing as a "country", just a bunch of land, a bunch of people, a bunch of buildings, and a government that makes-believe that there's something spiritual binding us, something that abruptly stops at the border. There is no such thing as "Western culture", just a bunch of pasty white fucks and a few stacks of books that nobody reads anymore.
The only thing you can be sure of is you, as an individual. Everything else is subject to interpretation. There are no rules but the ones you make for yourself. There are no limits that are not self-imposed. Nothing is true, everything is permitted.
Shogun is about an English sailor in the seventeenth century who becomes stranded in Japan, and involuntarily becomes involved in a large feudal war there. When John Blackthorne first arrives in Japan, he is completely appalled at the "barbaric" Japanese, whose culture is completely alien to his own. But during the course of the novel, John slowly assimilates into Japanese society, learning their ways, their system of honor. By the end of the novel, he has become so Japanese that he is now hostile to "those filthy Europeans" that he once belonged to.
Oh yeah, and there's a lot of fighting, naval battles, samurai combat, and other violent situations.
But there's one scene that truly sticks out in my mind. John is ordered to learn Japanese so that he can train a company of samurai to use muskets. The local daimyo demands that his village teach John the language, and that if he is not fluent within six months, the village will be burned to the ground and every resident crucified.
John, with his European morals, protests. He demands that this condition be withdrawn. The daimyo refuses. John declares that he will not have innocent blood on his hands, and threatens to commit suicide.
"He's bluffing," says one of the daimyo's advisors. Suicide, specifically seppuku, is a privelege for the samurai class, a part of their code of honor, something that "barbaric Westerners" know nothing about.
But John takes his knife and thrusts it towards his heart, stopped at the last second by the daimyo. The blade had gone a half an inch into the flesh.
It is said that when one has committed himself to suicide, and has taken the thrust, yet lives to tell the tale, goes through a rebirth of some kind. Not knowing whether he is alive or dead, John goes into a trance. He suddenly becomes aware of every drop of rain hitting the ground, every leaf on every tree fluttering in the wind. He becomes the Tao, the rock against which the waves of life rush in vain.
At this moment, John Blackthorne becomes Japanese. He becomes samurai.
-------
Of course, I'm a filthy Westerner. I know nothing about honor. I know even less about nature. I look out my window and all I see is row after row of concrete and parked cars. If there is a Tao, it isn't allowed within the Perimeter.
And suicide? Forget it. I'm an atheist, remember? From all the available evidence, it follows that this life is it. After this, you're wormfood. You might as well play until it says GAME OVER.
But I guess the lesson I learned from "Shogun" is that culture and tradition can be harmful. Pretty much every civilization has these social structures which dictate how people live their lives, be it religion or tradition or code of honor. Back in the day, a Dutchman was raised by the Dutch, and rarely left their little Dutch village. The customs are all you know.
I do believe that people's lives are very much controlled by the social environment. If your parents are Christian, you will most likely be a Christian. If you live in a town of racists, you will most likely be a racist. You'd like to think that your values and behavior is chosen by free-will, but nothing could be farther from the truth. A monkey will almost always act like a monkey. A palm tree will almost always act like a palm tree. And a human being from area X will pretty much act like the people around him or her.
And since people are so in love with the idea of absolute morality, it is no surprise that when cultures meet, there is much hostility, judgement, condemnation, and ultimately violence. If I know that I'm right, and you act differently, then you must be evil, correct?
But things are changing, irreversibly. We can thank the internet for that. The world is becoming smaller. Chinamen are no longer creatures we hear about in history books, we can chat with them online for free all night long. We see hundreds of different religions all around the world. We see tons of different cultures, different ways of life, different morals, values, behaviors.
It's becoming harder and harder to look at your own little village and your own customs and morals, and believe that your way is correct and the vast majority of human beings on this planet are evil. I mean, some people will back up this outdated shit till the very end, but it sounds sillier and sillier every day.
Eventually you have to come to the realization that everything you've learned has an element of bullshit to it, because it comes from biased sources. Your mommy is not infallible. Neither is your president or your pastor or your holy book. What is absolute truth to you is not the absolute truth to everyone.
The cure is knowledge. The more you know, the less you judge. The more facts you have, the less assumptions you make. The more you can prove, the less opinions matter.
One of the most enlightening moments I've ever had was when I realized just how much of the crap that people take for granted these days is completely imaginary. There is no such thing as a "country", just a bunch of land, a bunch of people, a bunch of buildings, and a government that makes-believe that there's something spiritual binding us, something that abruptly stops at the border. There is no such thing as "Western culture", just a bunch of pasty white fucks and a few stacks of books that nobody reads anymore.
The only thing you can be sure of is you, as an individual. Everything else is subject to interpretation. There are no rules but the ones you make for yourself. There are no limits that are not self-imposed. Nothing is true, everything is permitted.