[LAW Document 72 Hours] If your current actions are bound by past decision-making, you will only be at the mercy of the uncertainty of this world.
When we look at Japanese history and culture from a bird's-eye view...
Remaining ambiguous, without drawing clear boundaries.
It should have been characteristic that history and culture changed one after another, swapping and replacing.
In other words,
a "Mobius strip"
is an image that could describe it.
People and the country alike, our Japanese society has moved forward by correcting mistakes as follows.
・Language: When we tackled Kanji (mana) to acquire writing, Hiragana (kana) was born.
・Gods and Buddhas: Without prioritizing indigenous "Kami" over imported "Buddha," we had syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism through jinguji temples and sutra chanting before the gods.
・History: History is born in the struggle between the "hidden" and the "manifest" (Jien, "Gukansho").
・Tea Ceremony: Juko Murata said, "It is essential to blur the boundaries between Japanese and Chinese." Urasenke and Omotesenke.
・Subject and Object: Zen, tea ceremony, and Kitaro Nishida pursue the state where subject and object are not yet divided.
What is needed now for such a country and people of Japan,
is the "power to correct"
as this book points out.
"The Power to Correct" (Asahi Shinsho) by Hiroki Azuma
In modern Japanese society,
"Bold reform is necessary"
the media shouts, but politics does not change, the economy remains stagnant, and it can be said that we are in a situation where we are deadlocked, making no progress, and even regressing.
Under these circumstances, if Japan were to change, what would be needed there is not flashy top-down reform, but
・People who act
・People who challenge
・People who persevere
・People who have flashes of insight
・People who create・
・People who speak
etc. What they all have in common is the desire to be useful to someone, and it can be considered that each person, in their own field, is making steady efforts to change the status quo little by little.
In order to support such small transformations,
the "accumulated past"
must be
"reinterpreted"
and
a "philosophy to revive it in the present"
is necessary, and it is pointed out that the
"power to correct"
mentioned in this book is, in that way,
"the power to reconnect the present and the past."
is what it refers to.
1. The "power to correct" is not simply admitting and fixing mistakes, but the power to change while maintaining consistency.
2. In modern Japan, the power of the atmosphere is strong.
Mere criticism only serves to create an atmosphere of criticism.
What is needed is
the practice of 'correction,'
where you maintain consistency while claiming 'this was the true rule all along,' and by changing the rules little by little, you realize that change has occurred.
3. The core of the 'power of correction' lies in
the sense of discovery that
'actually, it was...'
This is a human-like sense that even AI cannot replace.
Certainly, in Japan, there is
a 'culture that dislikes change/correction,'
and
- politicians do not apologize,
- bureaucrats do not admit mistakes,
- and they do not try to change decided plans,
etc., building a negative culture that extremely dislikes making corrections.
Furthermore, on the internet, people get flamed if they contradict their past statements.
In such a society, where people cannot live in the public eye, where people with different positions cannot gradually change their opinions through dialogue, and where political debate cannot be established, a community has been formed that is trapped in a state of stagnation; this is the society we live in now.
That is precisely why
the 'power to correct,' which means admitting mistakes and fixing them,
is necessary.
"There are people who can be entrusted."
Society is considered important.
To correct means,
"to change while maintaining consistency"
is necessary, but this is by no means difficult, and it is something we do on a daily basis.
The points that caught my attention in this book are as follows.
- The "power to correct" is the ability to change one's interpretation of the past and adapt to reality while claiming consistency with the past.
A power lacking in today's Japan, which has a strong desire for a "reset."
- The power to correct should not be used to look away from reality.
It should be used to reinterpret reality.
- The opposite of the power to correct is
"unwavering"
making that your identity, or the "power to refute" that seeks to determine winners and losers in arguments.
"Power to refute"
is.
- Culture and customs will return even if you try to reset them.
Therefore, there is no way to move forward other than by correcting the memories of the past and making improvements while deceiving oneself.
Regarding this point, if you change your perspective, Westerners are good at correcting.
Western countries ruthlessly change rules to create situations advantageous to themselves, while at the same time constructing a certain logic to make their actions and guidelines appear consistent, pretending to be logical thinkers.
Such
“To sustain while correcting by using deception”
is
“the Western way of intelligence,”
so Japan should learn from this; originally, Japan should have possessed this kind of shrewdness as well, and it is truly regrettable that this is currently lost.
So,
“how can we regain the power to correct?”
I wonder.
In modern Japanese society,
“the unconscious rules of society,”
in other words,
“the atmosphere,”
is always an obstacle.
It is not just that individuals worry about others.
Those others themselves also worry about the eyes of other people, creating a rather troublesome nested structure.
And so,
while
“mutually monitoring,”
“everyone ends up following the unconscious rules of society”
is the current state of Japanese society, in other words,
“the public.”
That is how it is.
It shouldn't just be politics or revolution that changes the world.
I believe one of those things is the accumulation of small acts of care (a sense of care).
Not by decorating, but by being earnest.
Not abstractly, but concretely.
I cannot leave what is right in front of me alone.
I want to make it better.
By connecting in that way, couldn't we believe that the world beyond this moment will surely be more beautiful?
However, there exists the fact that no one knows where the turning point of the atmosphere lies, nor can anyone control it.
Even if one tries to criticize such an atmosphere...
That criticism itself becomes the atmosphere...
And in the end, such
"people who thoughtlessly follow new problem proposals will appear"
A mass is born.
It forms an extremely troublesome social structure.
Such an atmosphere, perhaps
"Let's change it"
Even if you say that, it just becomes
"a new atmosphere"
and while remaining within that atmosphere,
"Changing before you know it"
It is presumed that there is no choice but to steer things in that direction.
The tool for accomplishing such acrobatic feats is this
"power to correct"
as stated in this book.
This is similar to the "deconstruction" advocated by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida,
"deconstruction"
where, while appearing to follow traditional rules on the surface, one fundamentally changes the mold of Western philosophy by thinking through those rules to their logical conclusion.
Such a deconstructive approach may be the only effective measure left for Japanese society.
While correcting the rules beneath the surface,
"No, this was actually the real rule all along"
one asserts.
In this way,
"maintaining consistency with the past while responding to the current situation"
is a
"dual-sided strategy that is essential"
and I believe that the citizens themselves should understand and exercise this.
Whether it is a nation or an individual, if current actions are
"past decision-making"
bound by it, one will only be at the mercy of the uncertainty of this world.
Therefore,
"serendipitous luck"
in order to live a life where it is easier to seize,
"the power to correct"
I believe it is important to cultivate.