I had thought that the kanji symbol for “crisis” was a combination of two separate symbols, one meaning “danger” and the other “opportunity”. I had intended to use this as an introduction to this piece, as a justification for optimism in the face of great threats. And while I am convinced that hard times bring with them undeniable opportunities, I have discovered that the conventional description of the kanji character for “crisis” is, well, wrong.
Apparently, the word for “crisis” in Chinese, weiji, is actually a combination of two syllables, one of which does indeed mean “danger” and the other means “incipient moment” or “a crucial point when something changes”. The misinterpretation has become the basis of much profound admiration of Chinese wisdom, evidently undeserved in this particular case. The error has also been the foundation of many a seminar, business self-help book and consulting career.
It was Professor Victor H. Mair who burst my bubble. He is the Professor of Chinese Language and Literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
at the University of Pennsylvania. He and two colleagues, Denis Mair and Zhang Liqing, finally had to speak out to correct our folk knowledge, publishing an entire website to address this and other misconceptions about the Chinese language. (Their site is www.pinyin.info, in case you want to dive into really deep linguistic waters.)
So I got to thinking about how easy it is to grab what we believe is “information” out of the communication atmosphere, take it in as fact and faithfully repeat it confidently. I’ve been watching the debates and noting that the “truth squads” who check the Senators’ assertions present the bona fide research findings with much the same confidence as I previously felt when describing weiji to a colleague. I’ve checked some of the fact-checkers and found that, not surprisingly, there are other “facts” which dispute the watch-dogs as well.
How the heck are we to make our decisions, then, if there are precious few truths upon which to base our choices? There has never been a time when good decisions were more desperately needed. The world is reeling from a global struggle that is economic at its base, military in its expression and represents weiji for the entire human species. The stakes have never been higher for anyone in the world, and now those stakes are the same for everyone.
There’s no safe haven on the entire planet that would not be touched by the destructive potential of current trends concerning our climate, economics, ideological differences, population pressures, resurgent pathogens, diminishing natural resources, etc., etc. We really, really need to make good decisions, from the Presidential level, to monetary policy, to foreign policy, to household budgets to how we treat each other on a daily basis. If the facts are slippery, the folk wisdom unreliable and the risks so great, what will serve as a compass pointing to our collective “true North”?
And here I return to my motivation to write this particular article, even as my clever lead-in was proven bone-headed. In making decisions, I apply principles that have stood the test of experiment, both in the classic sense of scientific examination, and in the laboratory of real life experiences I’ve had. I learned one of those principles growing up in a lower class, blue collar, seriously dysfunctional family. My emotional and material survival depended upon not adopting the negative behaviors I saw modeled around me.
At one point, I was standing at the fork in the mental road. One sign said, “Self-destructive, negative, victimization attitude”, and the other said “Get over it, your life is what you make it and why not aim for a blue sky?” The victim’s route was tempting, because it would take less work. I mean, I knew how to self-destruct. There were many teachers around me all too willing to demonstrate. It was easier. Taking responsibility for changing things was a lot more work. But I took the harder path, and it wasn’t long before the sky got bluer and bluer.
The principle I’m referring to is that choosing our attitude determines our experiences. With or without the erroneous Chinese wisdom we thought was embodied in weiji, if we choose to see our current crises as both dangerous and full of opportunities, we will take action that is constructive, not destructive. If we refuse to listen to media messages that appeal to our fears, we will improve the chances that we will see those opportunities. We will spend no time commiserating and reinforcing each other’s “ain’t it awful” perspective. We will instead take action to make our futures better than they appear to be right now.
Just as the events of 9/11 and the Global Financial Crisis were opportunities to create unprecedented global bonds of mutual support, we have the chance now to face these crises of character and rise to the occasion, together. Let’s not let another opportunity get away.