While browsing the stuff available to put in my FaceBook profile, I ran across “Which Chinese Philosopher Are You?” Hmmmm, what an interesting concept. So I took the short quiz, and up popped my new ‘old’ mentor. Mo-Ztu (Mozi) lived 410-390 BCE, during the Warring State Period and was known as a pacifist and a hard worker. He argued against Confucianism and Taoism. His teachings (Mohism) were stamped out later by Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi and in the 20th century have been re-examined as more important than earlier thought. In the short time that I have been looking at information about Mo-Tzu, I have found some concepts of Mohism that could have been written for me, about me, by my father.
“Befriending the Learned: If one does not preserve the learned in a state he will be injuring the state;” Honor the academic? Listen to those who study and think and work? Oh,yes.
“Self-cultivation: The way of the superior man makes the individual incorruptible in poverty and righteous when wealthy; it makes him love the living and mourn the dead.” Pay attention, there is value in self awareness and ethics.
“On dyeing: Watching a dyer of silk at work, Mozi sighed, saying: What is dyed in blue becomes blue, what is dyed in yellow becomes yellow. When the silk is put in a different dye, its colour becomes also different. Having been dipped in five times, it has changed its colour five times. Therefore dyeing should be done with great care.”
“Self-cultivation: His wisdom will not be far-reaching whose purpose is not firm. His action will not be effective whose promises are not kept. He who will not share his possessions with others is not worthy to be a friend. And he who does not stand firm on principles and has neither wide knowledge nor penetrating judgment, is not worthy to be a companion.”
I recently stepped in to the world of web2.0 networking with both large feet. Having been cerfing the web for many years, blogging for a little while, rezzing with a younger, slimmer avatar, and wikied some, I decided that I could stick in a toe and see if it got bit. After all, I had almost 9 more if I lost one. I won’t go into all the cute names and websites, you know who they are, but after a week or so of profiling my activities and interests, I was impressed that there were some more folks out there who saw, as I did, how big this quantum doorway is. Of course, there is a whole lot of silliness out there, this is not news, but now that the gamers and chatters have proven the technology, the more serious groups are becoming involved and invested in web2.0.
For many, web2.0 is entertainment, but Mo-Tzu, and my father, Marvin Argyle, would say that good tools are to be sought, kept clean, and used wisely. They would say that practice makes perfect, and diligence provides reward. I have always believed these things as well. They were cultivated in me as a child, along with the curiosity that was sparked by observation. The tools we have today are extremely powerful and sharp, and in the hands of crafters with pupose, can provide a bounty of interesting and valuable things.
On the other side of the globe, but really only right next door in the virtual world we work and live in, is another student (and teacher) of these precepts. wonderwebby by Jazz and her post “Serving Purpose” yesterday precipitated my thoughts and wonder about these cerfing incidents and that led me to post this awkward effort as a way of saying, “Yeah, What she said. Ditto. I Mo-Tzu that.” I think that Mo-Tzu and Marvin Argyle would agree.
