On Cats

Having dwelt upon dogs in the last entry, I come to another common pet, namely, cats. My attitude towards cats is the exact opposite of that towards dogs. I like cats, especially the Burmese cats, the "posh pussies". They are very adorable. In comparison to dogs, cats are much less passionate. They barely want company. They have the virtue of enjoying loneliness and serenity. They suit my temperament in every way.

Cats, unlike dogs, do not greet you when you come home except on rare occasions. Training is not required. Even if you try, they will not listen. They barely comply to your commands. A strong sense of individuality. It is almost as if they have free will. That is why many people have the impression of cats always being unfriendly. But not at all. Sometimes they are friendly. They behave like dogs except that they replace the noble act with "meow" and with much less excitement instead of barking and whining. They talk to you. But most of the time, they are quiet and living their lives in solitude. They are smarter too. I once had the fortune to observe how a cat managed to open a door with their bare claws. They know how to use a human toilet when they are told to do so. And they talk to birds. They do not display anything inferior to the human intellect.

Our attitude towards cats also greatly differs from dogs. They are always associated with divine and mystical qualities in both East and West. Also both good and evil. In Japan, cats are bound up with mystical qualities. There is a story which you often hear around the Fuji mountain that if you happen to live in one of those hotels around the Fuji mountain, the next morning you will wake up with scratches all over your body. And it is rumoured that the "evil cats" do them. Whether this story is true, I have not had the chance to investigate. Another example would be that cats can help increase our wealth. You will often find that these types of cat figures are placed in front of the door of most houses in Japan which you also often see them in Hong Kong. Cats also play a significant role in modern Japanese popular culture. You see in many Japanese cartoons that cats are associated with divine quality such as Dragonball which is always wise enough to give advice to humans and offers beans to help replenish energy. In ancient Egypt, cats were sacred animals. The solar and war goddess Bast was always depicted in a cat form. A great deal of cats were mummified in ancient Egypt. They were treated with a lot of respect. Little wonder the sphinx is a cat.

In the West, people have negative superstitions about cats. The most significant one is black cats which are often associated wickedness. It is considered one will have bad luck if he happens to see one. In films and novels, dark cats are often depicted as a sign of evil.

Having said so much about cats, it is natural to come to the conclusion that the relationship between humans and cats is friendship. But is that really so? They are seen as equal. Both of us have a strong sense of free will. Unlike dogs, cats have liberated themselves from the bondage of master and slaves. Even surpassed that of master and servant. They want to be treated as ends, not as means. They often send you the message that you are not the only owner of the house. But we are!

Cats are usually owned by lonely adults while dogs are usually owned by a family. But why? Why does a cat deserve so much attention for lonely adults? Because they are equal. And the adults are lonely. Owning cats gives you a strong sense that resembles friendship. Like humans, they exercise their free autonomy. You do not take care of them because they do. When you talk to them, they respond. When they dislike what you are saying, they walk away. They do things which resembles what a friend would do to you. Moreover, some of their behaviours are humanlike. Living in a contemporary era where friendship is difficult to attain, cats are the solution. They play with us literally, emotionally, and psychologically. Cats deserve a higher place than dogs. Just a thought.

W

On Dogs

Science has brought us a great deal of benefits. One of them is the mastery over nature. Animals, in primitive times, were a threat to our survival. But science has changed our perspective. Many of them are now locked up in cages in zoos at the expense of human pleasure. Some get processed and eaten. We are now living in a time where Homo Sapiens drive them out to the road of extinction. Nevertheless, there is still hope for the human race. After the Industrial Revolution, the middle class has emerged. They have invented a new kind of leisure which has been popular down to this day. A certain kinds of animals are now put in a category called "pets". Pets are of many sorts. One of the most common ones is dogs.

I met Jackie nine months ago. We are now living in the same house since my cousins insisted on having one. But I never like dogs. I am scared of them though as time moves on I have become less so. They are too passionate and sometimes, up to a point, irritating. They constantly need company and like to draw our attention through a noble act called "barking and whining". They are not the kind of creatures that suit my temperament.

The first thing dog owners do when they get their dogs is train them. A dog is considered naughty when he disobeys its master's command. A dog is supposed to sit when the master tells him to sit. To lie down when the master tells him "down". Some of them are even trained to do some practical daily tasks like picking up newspaper and catching thieves. Who says slavery has ended over 150 years ago?

So what is the nature of the relationship between humans and pets? And particularly, humans and dogs? I was once told by a experienced dog owner that we ought to let our dog watch us have dinner without letting him have his own. We should only give him dinner after we finish our own. In other words, we ought to inflict a physical torture upon our dog. This sends the signal to the dog that we are his master. And he can only have his dinner after we do so.

"Dogs are human's best friends."- so at least I have been told. But what is this? Is that how we are supposed to treat our "friends"? What is the mind-set behind owning a dog? Dogs and humans are not seen as equal. They are inferior to humans. We give him commands and we expect him to obey. When he disobeys, he is blamed. However, we should not be rashly driven to the conclusion that this sort of relationship resembles that of master and slave. In some respect, dogs and humans are really "friends". Dogs constantly need company. We need to play with them. We need to walk them every day. When we come home, they will greet us at the door. This relationship is based upon mutual pleasure. It is "reciprocal altruism".

So does this relationship resemble that of master and servant? Not necessarily. Servants are free. Dogs are not. They are only free only when we free them. Servants often give advice to their masters. Servants are more like friends though they ultimately have to obey his master's command. But they are free to express their opinions with the utmost honesty. They are free to leave when they are not pleased. The situation for dogs, on the contrary, is not quite promising. They have to listen to their master's commands with absolute obedience. They cannot leave even when they are displeased with their masters.

Can we explain the nature of the relationship between humans and dogs? In the West, people love pets. They are compassionate. They treat their pets as part of their families though they still proclaim themselves as masters. In the Western tradition, dog are associated with the virtues of "friendliness" and "loyalty". In the East, on the contrary, especially in China and perhaps only China, dogs are considered wicked. They are inferior to humans. Most of the bad things in Chinese culture are associated with dogs. When we condemn a public official in a disrespectful way, we are calling them "dog officials". When we accuse of someone being sneaky, we call them "dog". Like other countries, paparazzi is condemned in, say, Hong Kong. But the word paparazzi is also associated with dog in Chinese. The only instance of praising dog in Chinese culture that I can think of, as far as my memory serves me, is the character in a famous ancient Chinese literature called "The Journey To The West" who is smart and loyal. He is also an assistant of a "fighting" god up in "heaven" (This is not an accurate translation).

Though the association of dogs in China is much different from that in the West, dogs do not always appear as good as it is commonly supposed. We often encounter a saying in English such as "We treat someone like dogs". Of course, one usually does not assume that that "someone" is referred as being loyal and friendly when we say this. On the contrary, we usually mean we treat him as something inferior to humans.

Perhaps now we can come to the conclusion that our relationship with dogs is a half way between master and servant and master and slave. But why do we own dogs? Is it because of "friendship"? Is "friendship" even an appropriate word? But as we see in my analysis, we are not friends since we are not seen as equal. Thomas Velbens once says that owning dogs reflects our status of class and wealth. But this is no longer true. Dogs are perhaps one of the best consolations for our mental life. In human affairs, it seems free will does not exist. There are so many human affairs that we have no control over. Even Socrates once says, "Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, or undue depression in adversity." Planning is useless since there is always interference. Therefore, having owned a dog restores that sense of control in us. It makes us regain the power to be the masters of what we will to do. Secondly, living in a world which is commercially driven, people are strapped with the bondage of the here and now. Merits not measured on money are deplored. It devalues the unspeakable delight of friendship. It undermines our emotional sensibility. People no longer have patience with all your deep talks. Communication between souls is no longer important. As technology invades every single part of our life, it has become even more difficult. When we own a dog, we have a silent companion except a few barking. He will be delighted to listen to us. We can speak from our heart with the utmost honesty and the utmost delicacy of human sentiments. And he shall not interfere us and agree with us on the whole. In this confusing era, dogs have become our true soul mates.

But then again, if dogs become our friends, we should also take pity on the life that we lead.

W

Is Ignorance A Bliss?

When we were children, we often dreamed to be adults. They seemed to us are free in all ways in which we were not. No one would interfere with what they do. They are able to freely enjoy all the spectacles of joy that life has to offer. Now, our wish seems to be fulfilled. We are officially adults right now. We are confronted with the crudest reality. Our life is filled with anxieties and worries. Our desire for friendship always comes quickly, but friendship is rarely found anymore. We, for the first time in our life, come to realise the painful fact that all men are wicked. The world is full of hatred and grievances. All of a sudden, we wish we could live as children again, free of worries and anxieties. We wish we could lead a life in ignorance. We often ponder upon the wisdom whether ignorance is a bliss. And we always seem to arrive the same conclusion that this is really the case. Socrates once says that the only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance. Is he wrong?

Let us see what happens when people are aware of the cruel facts of reality. As an ordinary white collar, you may work hard but you will not often be rewarded with the work you have done because hard work is mandatory. What you do is never enough for your boss. When your work is too outstanding, jealousy is often the sentiment you get from your colleagues. When you have done one thing wrong, regardless of what you have achieved for your company, you may worry at length whether your boss still thinks well of you; We are often told romantic love is the greatest delight we encounter in our life. However, having experienced it, we often wonder whether we can ever understand the inextricable relationship between men and women. In marriage, either party is anxious of whether the other party will commit adultery; Money is often the major driving force for men nowadays. They are dominated by it. Most of the greatest pleasures in your life depend upon how rich you are. But it also brings us as much miseries as happiness. If you start making money yourself and living on your own, you may know how hard it is to afford a lifestyle that you had as a teenager. Nevertheless, we still enjoy making money. Because we are aware of the fact that money does not necessarily bring us happiness, but it does buy unhappiness off.

As we look around nowadays, our Utopia, I often wonder, may perhaps have come. Ignorance is praiseworthy. Being knowledgeable is condemned. Having lived in an age of our own, we should not be surprised that one does not know the geographical locations of major cities in the world. It is exceptionally normal that people are no longer concerned how to lead a good life. They only need to know how much money and at what time they should invest in stock market. It does not matter whether philosophy, art, and literature can promote civilisation. In modern age, business administration is supreme. It promises us a good career in the future. We should take the values that our society holds as granted. It is needless to criticise and evaluate them since uncertainty renders us insecure. It no longer matters whether what we believe in is truth. Truth is not important. It is "truth" as long as it is comforting. Homo Sapiens cannot be more confident.

The virtue of ignorance becomes prevalent. Unfortunately, people do not seem a whole lot happier. On the contrary, the exact opposite happens. Ignorance has caused more miseries than ever. Why is that so? The answer probably lies in what sort of ignorance we delve into. It seems to me the Homo Sapiens have led themselves in the completely wrong direction of ignorance. And that kind of ignorance is what we may call the "pig ignorance". Ignorance of this kind is the blindness of the deluded. Their stupidity may sustain some sort of happiness. But this sort of happiness is shallow and unstable. If we lead our life with "pig ignorance", we are not only "ignorant". We are mistaken in false beliefs as truths which breeds stupidity. Therefore, taboos, bias, and prejudices will come in many ways unnoticed. On the other hand, the other sort of ignorance is wise ignorance. It is the ignorance of Socrates. It is also the ignorance only a minority of the world population profess to have. They use scepticism as a tool to analyse matters of the world. Their ignorance lies not in what opinions are held, but how they are held. They do not hold most of things happened in the world as absolutely certain. And they always arrive conclusions which are nearer to the truth. In the city of Athens, Socrates often wander around the streets next to the gymnasium questioning people about the values that they hold at the time. This is not because he is superior to them that he can teach them the "right" values. He never claims to know the truths. In fact, he claims to know nothing except the fact that he knows nothing. He wishes others to light his way through ignorance. However, it turns out he is wisest person in the city. We are all ignorant but we should become wise of the fact. Only after we desire to know more, we will be convinced that we are truly ignorant.

"Pig ignorance" is detrimental to human progress. It condemns human civilisation. It prevents us from discovering the wonders of the universe. With pig ignorance, philosophy, art, literature, and science would not be possible. Our world would not be very different from the one in Stone Age. "Wise ignorance", on the contrary, cherishes the human intellect. It urges us to conquer the world with free intelligence. It drives science if it is a quest of unknown. Science explores the world that was previously unknown to us. It expands our limits of understanding up to a degree than we can ever imagine. It possesses the essence of "wise ignorance". It teaches us to realise the evils of certainty and learn to entertain doubts. Doubt is humble and certainty is arrogance. Only through "wise ignorance", human progress is possible.

In the twenty-first century, where ignorance is the hallmark of social eminence, I must confess that I am unable to live up to the standard upheld by the majority. For me, this is very unfortunate. This glorious century marks the supreme victory of "pig ignorance". I have endeavoured to change myself but what I am met is endless frustrations. Is it the outcome of the survival of fittest? I do not know. This regret, I fear, will still taunt me after death.

W