Wednesday, September 15, 2010

There's no change without belief

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September 15, 2010
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Pacific Daily News
(Guam)

Opportunities to interact with others and engage in situations through which our own beliefs and habits are challenged, are engaging and stimulating. Through such interactions, we learn to take new perspectives into account.

The reconsiderations that result are an important element to improving the quality of our thinking. To paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton -- and take his reference into a new realm -- an object at rest tends to stay at rest; an object in motion tends to stay in motion; unless stopped by an unbalanced force.

A founding partner of a firm that provides global corporations with training, facilitation and consultation in productive thinking and innovation, Tim Hurson, says better thinking can be taught.

He admits "truly focused thinking" is hard work. It involves "observing, remembering, wondering, imagining, inquiring, interpreting, evaluating, judging, identifying, supporting, composing, comparing, analyzing, calculating, and even metacognition (thinking about thinking)."

It's no wonder "why so few people" actually engage in it, he says.

In the words of Martin Luther King: "Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think."

No 'cut to the chase'

In this age of instant gratification with a click of a keyboard or a push of a button, who has the patience to wait 20 years for education to bear fruit? In my teaching days, students' whispers and body language could transmit their frustration with the hard work of "thinking." As a teacher, sometimes my best efforts to engage my students fell short.

But as the world marches on, dedicated teachers inspire, challenge and prepare students for a competitive world.

Education takes time; there is no "cut to the chase," no ABC action manual, no one-size-fits-all.

We have to rely on our "one kilo of brain" to think -- and to think better.

Denial

"You are in denial. I am in denial, We are all in denial," someone wrote.

Denial is used across cultures and national boundaries, by individuals, groups or nations as a defense mechanism to escape from unwanted feelings of hurt, shame or guilt. Denial is an unwillingness to face an unpleasant reality or a painful truth.

Children love to play in their fantasy worlds. But they grow and learn about reality.

The comic character Calvin plays in his fantasy world, away from the real world of his father and mother. Invincible fantasy Calvin saves the world from inhumanity and injustice -- until his parents subject him to human cruelties such as eating dinner or taking a bath or doing homework.

Then Calvin knows his world of fantasy has ended.

For us grownups, denial persists. We live in the real world, where we cannot avoid an unpleasantness or a pain that we wish never occurred. Life affects us with its ups and downs. We are not beyond doing foolish things and making mistakes, being neither saints nor angels.

We differ from animals in that they rely on instinct. We have our intelligence to help us think, learn from our errors and move on.

Yet there are those who are stuck, who cannot move on.

Denial and blaming go hand in hand.

Simple denial is a rejection of a reality or a truth: "No, that's just not so!"
As we live in a world of our own creations, our self-righteousness makes us the good guys who can't do wrong; the others are the bad ones, responsible for all ills under the sun.

Minimization is playing down the level of seriousness of a reality or a truth, without really denying it: "But I had only two social drinks."

A most dangerous form of denial is transference: One in denial excuses oneself from the unpleasant painful reality but holds others responsible for unpleasant, hurtful things: "Had you not done that, this wouldn't have happened!"

One excuses oneself from culpability, but reproaches and condemns others as responsible.

Change

Karma -- or what Cambodians termed "prumlikhit" -- is a belief that one's lot is determined by a supernatural force, or by what is ordained that can't be changed. They explain one's failed exam, bad marriage, accident, illness, poverty and so on.

If so, is any person responsible for anything?

Cambodians in general say they worry about Cambodia's continued existence as an entity. Their neighbors to the east, the Vietnamese, and to the West, the Thais, have repeatedly encroached on Khmer territories over centuries. Much of today's Vietnam and Thailand once belonged to the Khmers. Many denounce Khmer kings, queens, princes, princesses and elites for the disintegration and shrinkage of modern Cambodia, and condemn their neighbors.

Justifiably so, one can argue.

But is such an exercise misplaced energy? Energy should be channeled to educating and to learning for a better future.

I, myself, write about the losses of Khmer territories, the usurpation of Khmer land by the neighbors, the maddening Vietnamization of Cambodia with the compliance of Khmer rulers, royal and non-royal.

Khmers should learn from their neighbors to block their dark designs. They must unlearn old habits that keep Khmers from advancing. A respected Cambodian-American scholar said the Khmers' neighbors to the east were Khmers Anh-Em, a term of endearment, while Khmer activists refer to them in pejoratives, as if this is going to change anything.

Change begins with one's self. There cannot be change until we believe change is possible.

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.

7 comments:

. said...

Oy Oy!!! It is giving me a good pain to read and digest this writing of Dr. Gaffar already. But I like it and I like it very much. My hat off to you Dr. Gaffar and thanks a million for having taken the time to educate...

Et comme disait Descartes «C’est proprement avoir les yeux fermés, sans tâcher jamais de les ouvrir, que de vivre sans philosopher».

Shall I wait till I am 60 years old first before I can start «philosopher»???

Good nite!

Anonymous said...

Dr. Gaffar... you are a terrible teacher. Thinking is futile without action. Thinking is like dreaming, but without the determination and plan to back up your thinking, it's useless. Think of when president Kennedy told American public in 1960 about his plan to put man on the moon. He did it with a determination, not just thinking.

Anonymous said...

it is a very good article to read and to learn from, Dr. Gaffar. It would be better if all your articles are written in Khmer or translatted into Khmer language, so that all the knowledge will go deeper into our society.

thank you,

Anonymous said...

9:46 I do agree that thinking is futile without action. But confucius said, a journey of a thousand miles start with the first step. Hence this is the first step, thinking, isn't?

Thank you Dr. Gaffar for sharing your view with us.

Anonymous said...

You're out of road, you're in the field, prof:
Learning, Educating are not enough, it would be like you, unemployment, do nothing but talk and talk and talk..
Engagement, Action..

Anonymous said...

I agree with some of the posts above, and I would humbly invite Dr. Gaffar to get out of his philosophical backyard, and get involved with specific actions that have tangible benefits for the population.

Why would he continue to waste his talent and energy writing/quoting something that are "out of touch" with Cambodia's reality in term of feasibility?

If I were him I would go to Cambodia teaching poor kids how to read and write; or doing some research on Khmer language/languistic to come up with new Khmer words like what Samdech Sang Chuon Nat did. There are so many things that Dr. Gaffar can do to contribute to the nation, yet he choses to make the least useful contribution.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Gaffer

I wish you are working alongside with Hun Xen and maybe you can enlighten HunXen's brain.

HunXen' brain is very cloudy.

He can't think too much maybe Sen never think at all. He just follow the advisor from Han-Noid gangs..

Well thought Sir...

We love to listen, read and maybe one day one khmer kid will use your knowledge to pull out what is best for all khmers..

thank you... keep it up!

Next topic: Do you think Khmer King is the cause to HS 's power?

Who is powerful - King or Hun Sen?

DO you think the 'queen mother' has her own agenda about the khmer's destiny with Hanoid?

Do you think the ' QUEEN MOTHER is a charak nearie for Youn?

please if you read please can you give us some insight THANKS!