Communism and fascism---fight against entropy

Oh, oh, it looks like this week has been treating you unkindly.

This week is not much different from any other, except that it's that time again.

You've used up your reservoir of patience.

I can withstand quite a bit without complaining, but once in a while a trigger event hits me. The memory of the unpleasant experiences that I tolerated gracefully earlier comes back, and a snowball effect ensues.

You look rather deflated to me.

Of course, you deflate after an explosion.

Are you feeling better now?

It's the same old pattern. I tolerate, tolerate, tolerate, ping, boom, and I feel bad about not being able to contain myself.

Tell me, what was the trigger this time?

I think it is almost always the same: lack of respect and consideration for others.

Anything special this time?

Do you believe that the universe has a natural tendency to evolve in the direction of larger entropy?

Don't tell me that you are trying to go against that.

What can I do if numerous, unfinished, miscellaneous projects get dumped on me, and I cannot simply ignore them, because it affects efficiency of my work and eventually the entire organization?

Isn't it your fault that you create such magnetism?

I try to help people when they are busy, and what happens is that they end up reserving the cream-of-the-crop tasks for themselves and leave others to be taken care of by... somebody.

That somebody sounds like a person who is considered nobody.

Frankly, I take it as a breach of trust. I help them based on the assumption that their effort levels are 100% or higher. Once they are out of difficulties, they shouldn't cut back on their efforts to the extent that they leave some work for... somebody.

An instance of abuse.

Certainly! I don't want to be the one that picks up the pieces, puts things in order, and so on.

Unfortunately, if things are orderly, we know that people have been strongly coerced to do so.

It's sad, but that seems to be true. Think about all the ethnic, religious, and socio-political conflicts that spring up after authoritarian regimes become defunct.

Some cultures are known to be more orderly than others, and people of such cultures are not exactly known for being very affectionate with each other or...

You mean they don't abuse each other!

Or they may be affectionate, but live under stifling cultural codes.

Why can't we just do things because it is better for the whole organization, community, society, etc.? If everybody acts according to that principle, there should be minimal abuse of the kind I just described.

Ha, now you sound like a communist or fascist propaganda.

The sacrifice of the individual for the benefit of the whole?

You got it.

If advocated by the government, it could be. But it is a principle which we can all abide by without government coercion. We are members of a society, and it is to your disadvantage if you only think about yourself.

Alas, that is not a strong enough motivation for most people. And, that is why we need strong socio-cultural rules, if we were not to rely on an official mechanism created by a police state.

Opportunists, manipulators, swindlers, con artists... are these what people are?

Hush, hush.

Et tu, Brute? You must be a human-rights abuser, free-rider, lobbyist!

Shhhhh.

Murder, oppression and a spoiled date

You had something so important that we had to skip one meeting. A full report on what happened, please.

I was at a place, which uncannily resembled Hong Kong. Happy new lunar year, by the way!

Were you in Chinatown?

It could have been Hong Kong...

Is it the dream you had when we were supposed to be engaged in a discussion?

A dream could be the reality, and the reality a dream... Do you remember talking about Zhuangzi?

Just tell me what you think you did.

I said to my date...

A date! How can a date be more important than our talk?

I said to my date, "Let's get a bowl of noodles."

Sounds very exciting...

Then I heard, "I don't see any noodle place." I realized that I was seeing signs with the Chinese character, "noodles," everywhere, but...

Ha, you dated an illiterate!

Do you read all characters that have been invented so far?

I have been tackling the Egyptian hieroglyphs, lately, and the Mayan one is on my list.

Literacy is an interesting thing. In many societies, it was not encouraged, because the elite wanted exclusive access to knowledge and a means to control others, namely the illiterate majority.

But, illiteracy in a literate society is a great handicap. Ruth Rendell's "A Judgement in Stone" is about a murder committed because of illiteracy. The perpetuator is known at the very beginning, but the process which pushes her to that extreme action is the story.

Not every language has a writing system meant exclusively for it.

The Thai script is not only for the Thai language, but also for other lesser known ones in Thailand, and the Khmer script is for the Khmer language and other minor languages in Cambodia.

Just as many Slavic languages use the Cyrillic.

Any linguistic tie does not seem to be necessary. The non-Slavic languages of the former Soviet Republics use the Cyrillic, too.

The borrowed scripts have changed over time, depending on the culture of the politically dominant.

Swahili, the lingua franca of the east coast of Africa, used to be written with the Arabic script.

That's because of the extensive contact with the Arabian Peninsula. Nowadays, it is written using the Latin alphabet. The Persian language used to have its own script, but they switched to Arabic letters with a minor modification.

You can make political statements by changing the official script.

The Koreans and the Vietnamese have done away with the Chinese characters. Ideograms, such as the Chinese characters, are really convenient, though. They are visual, and hence, allow you to read faster.

The same message occupies much less space, compared to alphabets. Pictograms are even more efficient, but takes much more time to write.

Illiteracy may lead to murder and the writing system tells you who has the power.

And, unfamiliarity with a writing system can kill an infatuation. I bet you slurped the noodles loudly to get rid of your date!