I guess 'trope' is a matter of perspective. I used this in Japanese colleges for small group discussions, and the kids grew wide-eyed when I told them afterwards that this was Plato from 2300 years ago. As it is Japan, I'd say that context affected them more than the Truman show would have ... here, like getting a fish to question the nature of water.
Cheers, Steven. One of my closest friends has taught in Japan for more than 30 years, so I’ve heard many stories related to the inability of fish to question the nature of water. Thanks for bringing that perspective to the discussion.
Dark triad personality types keep appearing in the mandelbrot set of history ... here is part of my story.
——————
The title hits home hard in an institutional setting. I made two mistakes in being in a tenured position at a Japanese college, (Jissen Womens, Tokyo) ... I made the mistake of being the only foreigner with tenure, and I made the mistake of having popular classes As this was an English Communication Department ... Japanese 'colleagues' were indifferent at best, but threatened at worst because none of them had near native English speaking skills, much less educated native English speakers.
I remember one nice spring day, I took the college students outside to teach English through tossing a frisbee and enjoying being outside of a textbook. A 'colleague' my own age and standing, renowned for his blind ambition, started chatting with me at the copy machine ... and though I listened passively ... the more he talked, the more enraged he became that I would dare teach English in a non-Japanese way. His red-faced rant ended with the demand that unless I learn to teach like Japanese college teachers (as if he knew how all Japanese teachers teach), I should return to America. After all, at that point, I had only spent 35 consecutive years building a career in Japan. This fits the textbook definition of 'Academic Harassment', even by Japanese standards. But as far as foreigners in Japan are concerned, neither Japanese labor law nor even work contracts, are worth the paper it is written on.
At a weekly Department meeting, I asked the teachers to pitch in and help out with a department wide event in which the students would be on stage, giving presentations in front of peers and guests invited from the local community. I explained that I was exhausted with overtime, handling all of the English presentation skills for the individuals and teams involved ... and had just finished a Saturday evening volunteer workshop with students and the chairman of another department at our school, Social Welfare. He, and another teacher grew livid that I would dare offer my English communication skills to another department without their permission. But the ambitious 'colleague' opined that if it were up to him, I would not have the freedom to use my English for volunteerism, or anything, on weekends ... without first asking for permission from my 'colleagues'. I had no idea what they did on their weekends, and neither did I think to ask and monitor them. They are all adults (or so I assumed) with families of their own.
Shortly after that meeting, I called for a meeting with the Dean of the college and asked if my work contract .... tenure until age 70 if desired, was the same as my Japanese colleagues. He assured me it was and that I had the same rights and responsibilities as the other department members. I relayed the message to the Department Chairwoman, upon which she replied that I was also under the obligations and responsibilities of a 2nd contract applicable only to the English Department. I asked to see that contract, and was told I did not have the right to see it. On complaining to the Dean about this obviously blunt manipulation, his response was a no-response by saying I just have to try harder.
I got along well with another colleague -- married female Japanese, graduate of Tokyo University, and also popular among the students ... and also not on good terms with the school. One day after a department meeting, she visited my office for a short lunch chat, mostly complaints about the school, and suddenly asked me if I believed in god. Puzzled, I answered no, not a personal separate god in the traditional sense of the word, but more like the god of Spinoza, Emerson, Jung, and Einstein ... 'god' as a metaphor for nature in its entirety, compatible with the Japanese-Buddhist concept of an underlying 'ki' (energy). She then unbuttoned the top of her blouse to show me the rope scar of an attempted suicide by hanging, and shortly left the room to finish her lunch.
Devastated, I reported this to the then Chair of the Department out of worry for her. About a month or so later, she took a medical leave of absence. Two or three months after that, the Chairman of the Department announced at a meeting that our colleague had died in a car 'accident'. I was devastated. Started seeing a psychiatrist for a prescription for anti-depressants and sleeping meds. Things went downhill from there, and within a year or so at age 59, I resigned in protest from a rare tenured position for foreigners.
Now approaching 67, I am collecting a modest pension and supplementing it with a bottom rung position as the only foreign Assistant Language teacher for 8 elementary schools, 3 Jr. Highs, and a special needs school. Some of the elementary school teachers are real educators, but from Jr. High onward, they tend to become something of a cross between bureaucratic functionary and drill sergeant. There is a good reason no foreign academics of international reputation can be found working in Japanese institutions. In general, I'd say the Japanese friends I have are educated despite the educational system, not because of it.
All of this being said, I spend more time on substack or private Facebook groups, fighting a bigger fight for far greater stakes. Even mentioning the dark-triad money and power behind potentially catastrophic changes to society is enough to get my post or comment censored by Google or Facebook ... not unlike the petty behavior of the micro-managers of Japanese institutions.
Wow. Intense. I will discuss these issues with my friend who teaches in Japan (Takamatsu area). I know he has encountered some frustrations during his career, but I don’t think it has been anything like what you describe here.
That was just the tip of the iceberg, and that was about 8 years ago, so I am trying to move along in a country that does not give 2nd choices. But synchronicity strikes!
I just woke up to check my mail, and came upon a podcast that nailed the group dynamics I experienced.
With a background in biology, I realize she was off the mark in understanding mosquitos. As far as I know, only females bite and infect humans, and the genetically modified mosquitos being released are sterile males which will reduce the disease carrying population.
But everything else she says about narcissism and society applies to narcissism and the dysfunctional institution ... business, education, governance, religious, NPOs, ... just about any institution.
JMHO, but empathy-driven communities (shadow economies) are about our only chance of sustaining the species.
My wife and I often discuss possible paths to a better future, and the one that seems most realistic and reasonable is evolving into smaller communities based around caring for each other. We sometimes find ourselves ironically wishing for some sort of internet collapse so that economies could become localized and people could understand that humans will more likely help their neighbors than shoot them. We’ve been conditioned by decades of dystopian fiction and film. Most people I’ve met and dealt with in “the real world” are pretty decent once you get past the surface level differences. Systems create fear and anger. Basic human interaction often creates empathy.
Those discussions between you and your wife sound very similar to what I bring up with my closest friends in Japan. The biggest problem is that although they agree with me in principle about small, local, parallel economies (something I've been absorbing from YouTube preppers back in the states, but also more wealthy 'back to the land' movements like Chris Martenson) ... Japanese citizens are so much more dependent on institutionalized credentialism, that they are helpless to act on their insights and principals. Moral autonomy, diversity and independence from institutions is waassay down near the bottom of the list of educational priorities over here. And I am afraid the majority, just to keep there fragile finger-hold on economic sustainability, will continue to comply with what those in charge of institutions from the governments and workplace merely 'suggest' to maintain a superficial harmony that is little more than a cross between 'mass psychosis formation', and the herd mentality of group-think. That is why there is no indications of the same kind of mass rallies, protests, and demonstrations against the mandates as is happening across the West. Compliance is so ingrained, the government, corporations, and mass media need only to suggest the people to jump ... and they are compliant to the point of lining up to ask how far and how high. Neither the science specialists nor what little remains of the liberal arts in Japanese colleges encourage applying the same critical thinking skills across domains ... and while the kids enjoyed my classes, my professional career as an educator has suffered for it.
Hi Paul,
I guess 'trope' is a matter of perspective. I used this in Japanese colleges for small group discussions, and the kids grew wide-eyed when I told them afterwards that this was Plato from 2300 years ago. As it is Japan, I'd say that context affected them more than the Truman show would have ... here, like getting a fish to question the nature of water.
Cheers from Japan.
Cheers, Steven. One of my closest friends has taught in Japan for more than 30 years, so I’ve heard many stories related to the inability of fish to question the nature of water. Thanks for bringing that perspective to the discussion.
Just finished that comment to YouTube Paul ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_lC05XIpqY
Dark triad personality types keep appearing in the mandelbrot set of history ... here is part of my story.
——————
The title hits home hard in an institutional setting. I made two mistakes in being in a tenured position at a Japanese college, (Jissen Womens, Tokyo) ... I made the mistake of being the only foreigner with tenure, and I made the mistake of having popular classes As this was an English Communication Department ... Japanese 'colleagues' were indifferent at best, but threatened at worst because none of them had near native English speaking skills, much less educated native English speakers.
I remember one nice spring day, I took the college students outside to teach English through tossing a frisbee and enjoying being outside of a textbook. A 'colleague' my own age and standing, renowned for his blind ambition, started chatting with me at the copy machine ... and though I listened passively ... the more he talked, the more enraged he became that I would dare teach English in a non-Japanese way. His red-faced rant ended with the demand that unless I learn to teach like Japanese college teachers (as if he knew how all Japanese teachers teach), I should return to America. After all, at that point, I had only spent 35 consecutive years building a career in Japan. This fits the textbook definition of 'Academic Harassment', even by Japanese standards. But as far as foreigners in Japan are concerned, neither Japanese labor law nor even work contracts, are worth the paper it is written on.
At a weekly Department meeting, I asked the teachers to pitch in and help out with a department wide event in which the students would be on stage, giving presentations in front of peers and guests invited from the local community. I explained that I was exhausted with overtime, handling all of the English presentation skills for the individuals and teams involved ... and had just finished a Saturday evening volunteer workshop with students and the chairman of another department at our school, Social Welfare. He, and another teacher grew livid that I would dare offer my English communication skills to another department without their permission. But the ambitious 'colleague' opined that if it were up to him, I would not have the freedom to use my English for volunteerism, or anything, on weekends ... without first asking for permission from my 'colleagues'. I had no idea what they did on their weekends, and neither did I think to ask and monitor them. They are all adults (or so I assumed) with families of their own.
Shortly after that meeting, I called for a meeting with the Dean of the college and asked if my work contract .... tenure until age 70 if desired, was the same as my Japanese colleagues. He assured me it was and that I had the same rights and responsibilities as the other department members. I relayed the message to the Department Chairwoman, upon which she replied that I was also under the obligations and responsibilities of a 2nd contract applicable only to the English Department. I asked to see that contract, and was told I did not have the right to see it. On complaining to the Dean about this obviously blunt manipulation, his response was a no-response by saying I just have to try harder.
I got along well with another colleague -- married female Japanese, graduate of Tokyo University, and also popular among the students ... and also not on good terms with the school. One day after a department meeting, she visited my office for a short lunch chat, mostly complaints about the school, and suddenly asked me if I believed in god. Puzzled, I answered no, not a personal separate god in the traditional sense of the word, but more like the god of Spinoza, Emerson, Jung, and Einstein ... 'god' as a metaphor for nature in its entirety, compatible with the Japanese-Buddhist concept of an underlying 'ki' (energy). She then unbuttoned the top of her blouse to show me the rope scar of an attempted suicide by hanging, and shortly left the room to finish her lunch.
Devastated, I reported this to the then Chair of the Department out of worry for her. About a month or so later, she took a medical leave of absence. Two or three months after that, the Chairman of the Department announced at a meeting that our colleague had died in a car 'accident'. I was devastated. Started seeing a psychiatrist for a prescription for anti-depressants and sleeping meds. Things went downhill from there, and within a year or so at age 59, I resigned in protest from a rare tenured position for foreigners.
Now approaching 67, I am collecting a modest pension and supplementing it with a bottom rung position as the only foreign Assistant Language teacher for 8 elementary schools, 3 Jr. Highs, and a special needs school. Some of the elementary school teachers are real educators, but from Jr. High onward, they tend to become something of a cross between bureaucratic functionary and drill sergeant. There is a good reason no foreign academics of international reputation can be found working in Japanese institutions. In general, I'd say the Japanese friends I have are educated despite the educational system, not because of it.
All of this being said, I spend more time on substack or private Facebook groups, fighting a bigger fight for far greater stakes. Even mentioning the dark-triad money and power behind potentially catastrophic changes to society is enough to get my post or comment censored by Google or Facebook ... not unlike the petty behavior of the micro-managers of Japanese institutions.
Wow. Intense. I will discuss these issues with my friend who teaches in Japan (Takamatsu area). I know he has encountered some frustrations during his career, but I don’t think it has been anything like what you describe here.
Hi Paul,
That was just the tip of the iceberg, and that was about 8 years ago, so I am trying to move along in a country that does not give 2nd choices. But synchronicity strikes!
I just woke up to check my mail, and came upon a podcast that nailed the group dynamics I experienced.
With a background in biology, I realize she was off the mark in understanding mosquitos. As far as I know, only females bite and infect humans, and the genetically modified mosquitos being released are sterile males which will reduce the disease carrying population.
But everything else she says about narcissism and society applies to narcissism and the dysfunctional institution ... business, education, governance, religious, NPOs, ... just about any institution.
JMHO, but empathy-driven communities (shadow economies) are about our only chance of sustaining the species.
https://rumble.com/v1g4ifd-narcissism-went-global.html?mref=6zof&mc=dgip3&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AmazingPolly&ep=2
Cheers Paul
My wife and I often discuss possible paths to a better future, and the one that seems most realistic and reasonable is evolving into smaller communities based around caring for each other. We sometimes find ourselves ironically wishing for some sort of internet collapse so that economies could become localized and people could understand that humans will more likely help their neighbors than shoot them. We’ve been conditioned by decades of dystopian fiction and film. Most people I’ve met and dealt with in “the real world” are pretty decent once you get past the surface level differences. Systems create fear and anger. Basic human interaction often creates empathy.
Hi again Paul,
Those discussions between you and your wife sound very similar to what I bring up with my closest friends in Japan. The biggest problem is that although they agree with me in principle about small, local, parallel economies (something I've been absorbing from YouTube preppers back in the states, but also more wealthy 'back to the land' movements like Chris Martenson) ... Japanese citizens are so much more dependent on institutionalized credentialism, that they are helpless to act on their insights and principals. Moral autonomy, diversity and independence from institutions is waassay down near the bottom of the list of educational priorities over here. And I am afraid the majority, just to keep there fragile finger-hold on economic sustainability, will continue to comply with what those in charge of institutions from the governments and workplace merely 'suggest' to maintain a superficial harmony that is little more than a cross between 'mass psychosis formation', and the herd mentality of group-think. That is why there is no indications of the same kind of mass rallies, protests, and demonstrations against the mandates as is happening across the West. Compliance is so ingrained, the government, corporations, and mass media need only to suggest the people to jump ... and they are compliant to the point of lining up to ask how far and how high. Neither the science specialists nor what little remains of the liberal arts in Japanese colleges encourage applying the same critical thinking skills across domains ... and while the kids enjoyed my classes, my professional career as an educator has suffered for it.
Hi Paul,
Was just finishing a mini YouTube essay-comment about Japan you might appreciate. Will be back here in about 10 minutes to post the link and comment.
Cheers from a blistering hot Tokyo (though a bit cooler now that it's past midnight).
steve