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hojucandy
Joined: 03 Feb 2003
Location: In a better place
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 Posted: Fri May 07, 2004 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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| matthewwoodford wrote: |
| I look down on people all the time. I'm 6'4". I can't help it. |
yikes - i am 6'3" - i look down on most people but here is someone who can look down on me.
i agree with wylde... i look down on people who say they they would never teach kids... kids are the best people (apart from dogs). |
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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2004 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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I don't by nature look down on other people.
But when I am having a complete breakdown in communication...I have to consciously think..."duh! This person is simply not the brightest."
Is this looking down on them? Yeah, I guess it is, but remembering that some people are challenged in intellect is something that does not come to me naturally. When I finally realize this fact, it makes it much easier to deal with them.
I still keep forgetting that you don't have to be smart to be a teacher! |
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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2004 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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| peemil wrote: |
| I'm an arrogant s.o.b at the best of times. Good little bit of "chaputz" goes a long way. |
A little bit of accurate Yiddish goes an even longer way. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2004 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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HERE COMES A RANT, albeit a soft one.
| rapier wrote: |
| I thought everybody looked down on others. Its part of the basic make-up of a person, to feel superior to others in some way |
Uh, no. I've often thought quite the opposite: that there's a fundamental equality between people, whether aged 82 or 2. Equal but different. A lot of people I empathize with: as being how I was when I was young or might be when I'm old, or might have been if I hadn't gone to college, or could be if my family was murdered, or would have been if I hadn't such good friends growing up, or if I'd lived where they live, as they live it. Some people regularly try to put themselves in others' shoes, so to speak. Of course, it helps that I believe our experiences and earliest reactions to the world around us is the greatest determinant of our differences, with physiology only a minor factor, important mostly for its interaction with the environment. It's an incredible flux I can only at best discern a tiny bit of. I sympathize with the incredibly tall Korean kid in a country where he's considered a freak rather than in New York where he may be praised for sporting excellence. I try to imagine when and why someone lost trust in others, what destroyed another person's hope for the future, and another individual's reason for living on the streets. I see a world of differences that no generalities can do justice to. I myself am part of that mix, better and worse at doing specific things but neither better nor worse fundamentally. Of course, I don't tally up judgements; I'm not a competitive person. One person thinks of themself as better mainly because of sibling rivalry; another mostly as a result of a felt need to earn a father's respect. I think I have many strengths, but also many weaknesses. And it is humbling to think of what great things people have done throughout history. I was a provincial chess champion when I was in the fourth grade but I knew I wasn't Kasparov, and that I wouldn't want to be him given the hardships his family has gone through. In fact, I never feel I want to be anybody else, nor do I think anybody is perfect. Yet I respect excellence in what some people do, and admire the talent and ambition that helps them succeed. I applaud when others succeed and don't quite understand the (jealous?) impulse that leads some to criticize and take away a bit of someone's success. I am not angry at someone who is better than me at something; I sometimes feel bad if I look like I'm not good at something, but that's about me, and wanting others to accept me as I am, as I do them. I accept people as they are, and hold no longterm resentment toward anybody. I have found a similar sentiment among some Christians, or so it appears to me. I never have been religious myself. My father raised me to see the universe in natural terms and I never could relate to the stories many others told of ghosts, angels, or whatever. I've never been promised life everafter, so I never thought of myself as one of the promised few, better than others. I've always seen life as what happens between birth and death, and I relate to the life of animals and even insects. On this point, I don't feel so alone. I've met many people who love all life, and appreciate even what a housefly is trying to do. It's the passion of many who study science, as I used to. I don't think I am better than animals in any condescending judgemental sense; I don't say anything is "stupid" (though we all do stupid things sometimes). I don't look down on others and don't think it's part of my basic make-up to be condescending. Maybe I do subconsciously and it takes another to notice. But nobody has told me so. I have been called a moral bass turd, because I do point out when mistakes have been made where I expect others to change... just as I do with myself. I usually prefer the positive energy of encouragement, however. But in both cases, I am trying to help them as others have helped me, not because I'm a better person. If I look down on someone it's with an open hand to help them up. I am better at English than my students, so I help them with that; yet it's easy to find something to admire in them, in their knowledge of Korean, or their energy, or their personality or just their open need for attention. Before coming to Korea I thought there were some children I'd seen in Canada I just wouldn't want to raise because of their personality or the trouble they get into, but, since teaching children, I've found that even the most troublesome, irritating, inhibited or challenged student has something that would make them easy to appreciate and care for. I don't look down on any of my students, not in the figurative sense. I believe: Everyone can help everyone else do something. I do sometimes feel frustrated by the condescension I perceive from some Korean men who thump their chests and speak haughtily toward me about Korea as being the best. But I understand them to be preserving their sense of being alright as they are, in a changing world Koreans have always struggled to find their place in, to hold onto an identity apart from the Chinese, Japanese and Westerners. I admire Korean resilience and determination to change on their own terms, and I see the apparent arrogance as the cost I and others bear for their cultural traits of survival. I don't look down on Koreans, and I wish Koreans didn't look down on Africans. I do what I can to help, by, say, telling my students yesterday about the Korea Herald story of 52,000,000 people in Africa who are using mobile phones, and how a Chinese company wants to tap into the market. The students go wide-eyed and I hope they are less likely to ridicule in the future. But some people ridicule, condescend, look down. Shoot! many people do. I think it's unfortunate and I wish they wouldn't. But they see the world differently, and respond to it differently. The attitude has been important for reasons I'm not aware of. I think the world would be a better place if more people didn't look down on others. Just as I think it'd be better if I acted more on what I thought. I look at fulltime activists and admire their commitment. Just as I admire the small business family who spends their life tending shop and raising children. When I notice others looking down on a person or a group I think along the lines of these platitudes: To each their own, Nobody is perfect, I don't know everything, There are reasons I'm not aware of, I try to help others and realize my own mistakes, Treat everybody as human beings, Every life is trying to survive and thrive according to habits formed long before I came and long after I leave, etc. I think my interest in novels is largely about getting behind the veneer of condescension and judgement to the underlying feelings, memories and reactions shaping a person and the choices made, often tragic. There are many novels yet to written centered on Korean characters, told by Westerners, to get behind and beyond the behaviours that irritate us sometimes. Empathy may be the greatest antidote to condescension. Nevertheless, for whatever reason: I don't feel like I look down on others, though I feel a great sense of mystery over what some people do. |
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TommyPickles
Joined: 19 Apr 2004
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Fri May 07, 2004 6:44 pm Post subject: |
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| That was a rant? Seemed more like a thesis paper, VanIslander ^^;; |
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matthewwoodford
Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Location: Location, location, location.
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2004 6:49 am Post subject: |
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| OiGirl wrote: |
| peemil wrote: |
| I'm an arrogant s.o.b at the best of times. Good little bit of "chaputz" goes a long way. |
A little bit of accurate Yiddish goes an even longer way. |
Yeah, is that supposed to be 'chutzpah'? I've never heard of 'chaputz' before. |
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Toby
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Wedded Bliss
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2004 7:11 am Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
HERE COMES A RANT, albeit a soft one.
| rapier wrote: |
| I thought everybody looked down on others. Its part of the basic make-up of a person, to feel superior to others in some way |
Uh, no. I've often thought quite the opposite: that there's a fundamental equality between people, whether aged 82 or 2. Equal but different. A lot of people I empathize with: as being how I was when I was young or might be when I'm old, or might have been if I hadn't gone to college, or could be if my family was murdered, or would have been if I hadn't such good friends growing up, or if I'd lived where they live, as they live it. Some people regularly try to put themselves in others' shoes, so to speak. Of course, it helps that I believe our experiences and earliest reactions to the world around us is the greatest determinant of our differences, with physiology only a minor factor, important mostly for its interaction with the environment. It's an incredible flux I can only at best discern a tiny bit of. I sympathize with the incredibly tall Korean kid in a country where he's considered a freak rather than in New York where he may be praised for sporting excellence. I try to imagine when and why someone lost trust in others, what destroyed another person's hope for the future, and another individual's reason for living on the streets. I see a world of differences that no generalities can do justice to. I myself am part of that mix, better and worse at doing specific things but neither better nor worse fundamentally. Of course, I don't tally up judgements; I'm not a competitive person. One person thinks of themself as better mainly because of sibling rivalry; another mostly as a result of a felt need to earn a father's respect. I think I have many strengths, but also many weaknesses. And it is humbling to think of what great things people have done throughout history. I was a provincial chess champion when I was in the fourth grade but I knew I wasn't Kasparov, and that I wouldn't want to be him given the hardships his family has gone through. In fact, I never feel I want to be anybody else, nor do I think anybody is perfect. Yet I respect excellence in what some people do, and admire the talent and ambition that helps them succeed. I applaud when others succeed and don't quite understand the (jealous?) impulse that leads some to criticize and take away a bit of someone's success. I am not angry at someone who is better than me at something; I sometimes feel bad if I look like I'm not good at something, but that's about me, and wanting others to accept me as I am, as I do them. I accept people as they are, and hold no longterm resentment toward anybody. I have found a similar sentiment among some Christians, or so it appears to me. I never have been religious myself. My father raised me to see the universe in natural terms and I never could relate to the stories many others told of ghosts, angels, or whatever. I've never been promised life everafter, so I never thought of myself as one of the promised few, better than others. I've always seen life as what happens between birth and death, and I relate to the life of animals and even insects. On this point, I don't feel so alone. I've met many people who love all life, and appreciate even what a housefly is trying to do. It's the passion of many who study science, as I used to. I don't think I am better than animals in any condescending judgemental sense; I don't say anything is "stupid" (though we all do stupid things sometimes). I don't look down on others and don't think it's part of my basic make-up to be condescending. Maybe I do subconsciously and it takes another to notice. But nobody has told me so. I have been called a moral bass turd, because I do point out when mistakes have been made where I expect others to change... just as I do with myself. I usually prefer the positive energy of encouragement, however. But in both cases, I am trying to help them as others have helped me, not because I'm a better person. If I look down on someone it's with an open hand to help them up. I am better at English than my students, so I help them with that; yet it's easy to find something to admire in them, in their knowledge of Korean, or their energy, or their personality or just their open need for attention. Before coming to Korea I thought there were some children I'd seen in Canada I just wouldn't want to raise because of their personality or the trouble they get into, but, since teaching children, I've found that even the most troublesome, irritating, inhibited or challenged student has something that would make them easy to appreciate and care for. I don't look down on any of my students, not in the figurative sense. I believe: Everyone can help everyone else do something. I do sometimes feel frustrated by the condescension I perceive from some Korean men who thump their chests and speak haughtily toward me about Korea as being the best. But I understand them to be preserving their sense of being alright as they are, in a changing world Koreans have always struggled to find their place in, to hold onto an identity apart from the Chinese, Japanese and Westerners. I admire Korean resilience and determination to change on their own terms, and I see the apparent arrogance as the cost I and others bear for their cultural traits of survival. I don't look down on Koreans, and I wish Koreans didn't look down on Africans. I do what I can to help, by, say, telling my students yesterday about the Korea Herald story of 52,000,000 people in Africa who are using mobile phones, and how a Chinese company wants to tap into the market. The students go wide-eyed and I hope they are less likely to ridicule in the future. But some people ridicule, condescend, look down. Shoot! many people do. I think it's unfortunate and I wish they wouldn't. But they see the world differently, and respond to it differently. The attitude has been important for reasons I'm not aware of. I think the world would be a better place if more people didn't look down on others. Just as I think it'd be better if I acted more on what I thought. I look at fulltime activists and admire their commitment. Just as I admire the small business family who spends their life tending shop and raising children. When I notice others looking down on a person or a group I think along the lines of these platitudes: To each their own, Nobody is perfect, I don't know everything, There are reasons I'm not aware of, I try to help others and realize my own mistakes, Treat everybody as human beings, Every life is trying to survive and thrive according to habits formed long before I came and long after I leave, etc. I think my interest in novels is largely about getting behind the veneer of condescension and judgement to the underlying feelings, memories and reactions shaping a person and the choices made, often tragic. There are many novels yet to written centered on Korean characters, told by Westerners, to get behind and beyond the behaviours that irritate us sometimes. Empathy may be the greatest antidote to condescension. Nevertheless, for whatever reason: I don't feel like I look down on others, though I feel a great sense of mystery over what some people do. |
Paragraphs please. Then I can read it. |
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Ody
Joined: 27 Jan 2003
Location: over here
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2004 7:19 am Post subject: |
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| Toby wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
HERE COMES A RANT, albeit a soft one.
| rapier wrote: |
| I thought everybody looked down on others. Its part of the basic make-up of a person, to feel superior to others in some way |
Uh, no. I've often thought quite the opposite: that there's a fundamental equality between people, whether aged 82 or 2......................... |
Paragraphs please. Then I can read it. |
It's a rant. Technically, paragraphs are not required.
Your loss. |
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Toby
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Location: Wedded Bliss
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2004 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Ody wrote: |
| Toby wrote: |
| VanIslander wrote: |
HERE COMES A RANT, albeit a soft one.
| rapier wrote: |
| I thought everybody looked down on others. Its part of the basic make-up of a person, to feel superior to others in some way |
Uh, no. I've often thought quite the opposite: that there's a fundamental equality between people, whether aged 82 or 2......................... |
Paragraphs please. Then I can read it. |
It's a rant. Technically, paragraphs are not required.
Your loss. |
But I keep reading the same line again and again!!!  |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2004 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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I thought chaputz is what happens to your car when it breaks down. (kaputz?)
If so, may all chutzpah go chaputz.  |
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Yesterday
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Land of the Morning DongChim (Kancho)
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| Posted: Sat May 08, 2004 7:24 pm Post subject: |
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VanIslander - please make use of the "ENTER" key on your keyboard - it actually leaves spaces in between paragraphs - to make reading easier!!! - or did you just "Copy and paste" from somewhere.... or type all your "frustrated feelings" in a frenzy whilst under the influence of something.....
noone is going to read just a huge-block of words.....
my answer anyway...... I can't help looking down on others - I am so tall...... |
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The Man known as The Man
Joined: 29 Mar 2003
Location: 3 cheers for Ted Haggard oh yeah!
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2004 10:35 am Post subject: |
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kiwiboy, I look down on people like Andie.
Andie is a thieving tool, a wannabe fraud who cannot even speak English.
And Andie has the PM's to prove it.
Andie=smrt!!! |
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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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| Posted: Sun May 09, 2004 11:00 am Post subject: |
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In The Joys of Yiddish, Leo Rosten accepts these spellings:
chutzpa
chutspa
hutspa
hutzpah I can understand a typo, even a mispelling I can understand but not accept, but your "chaputz" shows just plain ignorance. You don't even have the sounds in the correct order, so don't call it a spelling mistake!
And, yes, I do look down on "English teachers," professional or transitory backpackers who can't be bothered to use correct English or correct Yiddish loanwords. |
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