In the kingdom of the blind, the one eyed man is king.
One of the few quotes I've heard that are as true and meaningful as they are catchy.
Would you be happy being the one eyed king?
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Home Sweet Home
I went for a stroll in downtown Seattle today, the weather was very un-Seattle-like (read Sunny) and I'd frankly missed it coming back from a long vacation.
Coincidentally, I found a store that sells small antiques and other seeminly random but somehow interesting things imported from Namibia, Kenya, and a couple other countries according to the owner. A quick chat started by the owner asking me where I'm from, playing the guessing game, and failing, as has become the norm for me around here (you *have to* make them play the guessing game when it's a (cute) girl asking you where you're from, playing the game is optional when it's guys asking you).
Anyway, it turns out the guy is from Guinea and has been in Seattle for 12 years.
Interestingly, the guy voluntarily admits that he'd like to go home (not Seattle). I'm puzzled.
'But 12 years is a really long time, it (Seattle) must feel like home to you now, no?', I ask.
'No, I still want to go back, I go on vacations and it may be a worse place but I like it better, there is no place like home', the man replies.
The conversation ended pretty soon, and I felt exactly what his last statement would make most people feel. A mysterious admiration for the man's "loyalty" for his place of birth.
But I really don't know why we feel that way.
First of all, I'm hard pressed to find a definition for "home". We use the word everyday and one would think the definition is clear, but is it?
If a man is born and lives in country A for 20 years, and then relocates and moves in country B for 20 years. Which country is home now for him?
And it can't be defined as the country of birth, because a person who is born in country A but only lives there for a day, after which he moves to country B would never call country A home.
And the definition of 'home' is not the only problem...
Loyalty to one's home, however we choose to define that home, is usually perceived as a virtue, but again the reasons are unclear to me.
Most people will admit having a familiar warm fuzzy feeling and feeling mysterious admiration after hearing the phrase 'There is no place like home' or the seemingly-deep-but-actually-not-so-deep "Never forget where you're from".
A lot of people will say either phrases and countinue to live on somewhere else anyway, go figure.
Maybe I need to study ethics?
Coincidentally, I found a store that sells small antiques and other seeminly random but somehow interesting things imported from Namibia, Kenya, and a couple other countries according to the owner. A quick chat started by the owner asking me where I'm from, playing the guessing game, and failing, as has become the norm for me around here (you *have to* make them play the guessing game when it's a (cute) girl asking you where you're from, playing the game is optional when it's guys asking you).
Anyway, it turns out the guy is from Guinea and has been in Seattle for 12 years.
Interestingly, the guy voluntarily admits that he'd like to go home (not Seattle). I'm puzzled.
'But 12 years is a really long time, it (Seattle) must feel like home to you now, no?', I ask.
'No, I still want to go back, I go on vacations and it may be a worse place but I like it better, there is no place like home', the man replies.
The conversation ended pretty soon, and I felt exactly what his last statement would make most people feel. A mysterious admiration for the man's "loyalty" for his place of birth.
But I really don't know why we feel that way.
First of all, I'm hard pressed to find a definition for "home". We use the word everyday and one would think the definition is clear, but is it?
If a man is born and lives in country A for 20 years, and then relocates and moves in country B for 20 years. Which country is home now for him?
And it can't be defined as the country of birth, because a person who is born in country A but only lives there for a day, after which he moves to country B would never call country A home.
And the definition of 'home' is not the only problem...
Loyalty to one's home, however we choose to define that home, is usually perceived as a virtue, but again the reasons are unclear to me.
Most people will admit having a familiar warm fuzzy feeling and feeling mysterious admiration after hearing the phrase 'There is no place like home' or the seemingly-deep-but-actually-not-so-deep "Never forget where you're from".
A lot of people will say either phrases and countinue to live on somewhere else anyway, go figure.
Maybe I need to study ethics?
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Si
The french si, not the spanish one. The one you use to reply affirmatively to a negative question. A silly silly word, if you ask me, because it solves a problem that should have never existed in the first place.
Who on earth invented the idea of negative questions?
Negative questions do not add any meaning that normal questions don't have, it's actually pretty oxymoronic if you think about it, what does it mean for you to negate something you don't know (yet at least)?
Some languages, like formal Arabic and French, took it even further and made up words to denote an affirmative response to a negative question. After all, what does it really mean to reply 'Yes' to 'Are you not going to work today?'.
I hate very few things in life, and negative questions are so bad that they managed to make it very close to the top of a very short list.
The worst thing about negative questions, to me, is that they suggest some sort of expectancy of a negative answer on behalf of the asker. But why anyone feels compelled to communicate their anticipated answer to their question is beyond me, if you know the answer, just don't ask the question.
'Are you not going to eat?' sounds like "Are you going to eat? You really shouldn't" and 'Are you not coming?' sounds like 'why don't you spare us your company?' to me.
Just think of it, how many times have you had to reask a question in the proper (affirmative) form after not understanding the answer to your previous negative question?
Negative questions are evil.
Who on earth invented the idea of negative questions?
Negative questions do not add any meaning that normal questions don't have, it's actually pretty oxymoronic if you think about it, what does it mean for you to negate something you don't know (yet at least)?
Some languages, like formal Arabic and French, took it even further and made up words to denote an affirmative response to a negative question. After all, what does it really mean to reply 'Yes' to 'Are you not going to work today?'.
I hate very few things in life, and negative questions are so bad that they managed to make it very close to the top of a very short list.
The worst thing about negative questions, to me, is that they suggest some sort of expectancy of a negative answer on behalf of the asker. But why anyone feels compelled to communicate their anticipated answer to their question is beyond me, if you know the answer, just don't ask the question.
'Are you not going to eat?' sounds like "Are you going to eat? You really shouldn't" and 'Are you not coming?' sounds like 'why don't you spare us your company?' to me.
Just think of it, how many times have you had to reask a question in the proper (affirmative) form after not understanding the answer to your previous negative question?
Negative questions are evil.
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