I think that I will be asking for your permission to use par of
this dialogue in my Cross-cultural Management class. It is great, and
might help others understand why we are so stuck on issues such as
cultural diversity, etc..
> Date: Wed, 20 Dec 1995 06:36:06 -0600 (CST)
> From: jwoods@execpc.com (John Woods)
>
<<<< I deleted a bunch of great stuff here >>>>
>
> Chris Argyris and many enlightened souls have tried to tell us this.
> They're trying to get us to wake up and _understand_ that we operate out
> of our assumptions, and use that understanding to get along with others by
> exploring with them your different assumptions. In doing that we can come
> to understand our different conclusions and behaviors and get along
> better. In other words, by understanding that I operate in accordance with
> my understanding, I am no longer trapped by this into doing stupid things
> that would be hurtful to myself and others. My understanding now takes
> this into account, and that affects my behavior (not "choices") at any
> time in a positive manner.
I share with my students the following quote: "Our firmest
convictions are apt to be the most suspect, they mark our limitations and
our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable
urge to extend its boundaries." By Jose Ortega y Gasset, Spanish
philosopher, 1883-1955. (Don't remember the full reference.) I cannot
help it but think about this constantly and as a result of many different
experiences. For instance, in a recent road trip I stopped at a Service
Plaze on a Florida expressway. As I walked inside the facilities to make
use of the restrooms and grab a coffee, with my little son Victor who is a
clear proof that we are a part of a mix race family, we came in visual
contact with some members of a White Supremacist group with their black
uniforms and their red/white/black symbols. I didn't feel any fear, but
felt very sorry because I could see their limited understanding of humans
and society (I thought). They are not as free as I am! I thought.
<<<< Some more great stuff deleted here >>>>
>
> What makes us human is not choice. What makes us human is self awareness
> with all the attendant paradoxes, experiences, and understandings that
> entails. The truly self-aware person cannot but take into account the
> kinds of ideas I am talking about here. Truly self aware people
> understand that they are the sum of their relationships to the world.
> They understand that to look out for themselves is to look out for the
> world. They understand that the stupidity and self-destructive behaviors
> of so many are manifestations that they don't understand this, that they
> have limited themselves, that they truly are prisoners of a poor paradigm.
> Indeed, the human species is filled with self-destructive tendencies.
> That's why it's so important to become aware of ourselves. We can come up
> with a paradigm, an understanding, that allows us to transcend our
> self-destructive ways, to be open to the possibilities. In other words,
> it liberates us, but not from being human, but to take full advantage of
> what being human means.
>
> John Woods
> jwoods@execpc.com
I see so many people calling choice something that is not. I saw
a T.V. reporter tell someone he wanted to interview "we are giving you the
opportunity to talk to us." And there are many other forms of "choice"
offered to people that aren't really choices. It is very difficult for
many people to shake their own assumptions and beliefs once in a while.
Even some who believe they are questionning what they believe and how they
behave, they are really looking for more "evidence" to support the way
they do things.
In this sense I support John's notions. Becoming aware of
ourselves is a necessary condition for us to achieve higher and higher
levels of understanding of life (and death), to enjoy life even more, and
to cope with (even eliminate) some many sources of stress, neurosis, etc.
I don't exactly know when it happened to me for the first time, but I have
developed to some extend the ability to look at myself from the outside.
I can take myself out a situation, and look at myself operationg or
functioning in that situation, so that I can appreciate who I am and how I
relate to others in a more "objective" way. I also pay attention to how
others behave toward me, and can see (sometimes) they reasons why they do
it. This allows me to remove myself from some of these situations, either
on a temporary basis or forever. Within this exercise I also project
myself (and others) into the future to check what it would like, and
that's why I have made some career changes, and changed my convictions,
assumptions, and beliefs a few times. It has been a lot of fun!
Ivan
--
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R. IVAN BLANCO, Ph.D. Voice 305 899-3515
Assoc. Prof. & Director Fax 305 892-6412
International Business Programs
Andreas School of Business _________E-Mail Addresses________
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"Si un hombre fuera necesario para sostener el Estado, este
Estado no deberia existir." "If one man were necessary to
sustain a Nation, this Nation should not exist." Simon Bolivar
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