tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315629333109868789.post9027148311188344182..comments2024-03-17T22:59:24.273+00:00Comments on Peter Household - things that have interested me: Getting things by their right names, as the Chinese sayPeter Householdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04537256881744236389noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2315629333109868789.post-41523270841126476362011-10-12T13:42:25.755+01:002011-10-12T13:42:25.755+01:00But why do we automatically ascribe wisdom to peop...But why do we automatically ascribe wisdom to peoples and sayings just because they were a long time ago (albeit in advanced civilisations for the time)? Why should we assume the ancient Chinese or Greeks were wiser than we are now (as a people, not personally speaking!), or even than their own modern counterparts in China and Greece? When did those people stop being wise? Just because they wrote things down before others, doesn't mean we have to treat them with reverence. Or using the same logic the "developed" nations now could be assumed to be wiser than less "developed" ones. This particular phrase seems self-evident, of course it's helpful to call things by their right names, why is it clever to put that into words? I'd argue that by saying "as the Chinese" say the speaker isn't putting some distance between himself and the "pearl" to avoid sounding pretentious, rather he's adding some weight to the saying, implying that if the Chinese said it it must be wise. It's the Emperor's Clothes again! Or maybe I'm just in a grumpy mood this afternoon......Nogginnoreply@blogger.com