02 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
Imperialism and Feudalism are Mountains Weighing Down the...
There is an ancient Chinese fable called "The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains". It tells of an old man who lived in northern China long, long ago and was known as the Foolish Old Man of North Mountain. His house faced south and beyond his doorway stood the two great peaks, Taihang and Wangwu, obstructing the way. With great determination, he led his sons in digging up these mountains hoe in hand. Another greybeard, known as the Wise Old Man, saw them and said derisively, "How silly ...Folksonomies: government revolution
Folksonomies: government revolution
1 
notes
notesThe Chinese overthrew kings just as Americans and Europeans did.
11 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
Confucianism Produced a Civil China
I must confess that I am unable to appreciate the merits of Confucius. His writings are largely occupied with trivial points of etiquette, and his main concern is to teach people how to behave correctly on various occasions. When one compares him, however, with the traditional religious teachers of some other ages and races, one must admit that he has great merits, even if they are mainly negative. His system, as developed by his followers, is one of pure ethics, without religious dogma; it h...
1 The Europeans think the Chinese weak because of their quiet dignity, but Bertrand Russel sees it as a strength with which they conquer.
18 JAN 2013 by ideonexus
Chinese Cultural Innovations Turned to Ritual
When Europeans first arrived in China, three hundred years a^ago, they found that almost all the arts had reached a certain degree of perfection there, and they were surprised that a people which had attained this point should not have gone beyond it. At a later period they discovered traces of some higher branches of science that h had been lost. The nation was absorbed in productive industry; the greater part of its scientific processes had been preserved, but science itself no longer exist...
1 An account of the amazing art and inventions found in China, but how these had turned into unquestioned rituals--performed exactly over and over again through the ages without alteration or innovation. The culture had stagnated.
19 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
Cultural Differences
The Italian model has a sign
like a wave, meaning, “Come here.” Greek girls cause problems for
non-Greek boys by saying “No” with a nod, not a shake, of their
head. In New Zealand you can do one kind of V-sign but never
the other. Americans look posh when they look neat; Europeans
look posh when they look as if they’ve just come through a hedge
backwards. A very fine linguistic example of model difference lies
in the way the Irish and the English express themselves. Where
the Britis... 1 notes
notesExamples of differences between various European countries in expressiveness.
06 APR 2011 by ideonexus
Richard Dawkins Confuses Moderate and Fundamental Religio...
While Dawkins is clearly right in his contention that religion -- any religion -- should be fair game for critics, his brand of purist atheism is grounded more in philosophy than in a cleare-eyeed look at the real world or the way religion works in American society. The difference between moderate religion and fundamentalism, now as in the past, is that moderate faith attempts to accommodate itself to secular education and ecular government: the American religious right rejects both. If there... 1 notes
notesThe difference between them is that one group is willing to concede things about their religious doctrine, while the other is unyielding in its irrationality.
