The survival strategy called 'language' taught to me by 'In the Miso Soup' (5 Minutes After the World). The margin for enjoying the process of understanding others.
I am working hard to save my reading logs on the weekend! Thanks to this, it has become a goal to read a book within a week, and reading has become fun (*´艸｀)
The book I read this time is '5 Minutes After the World' by Ryu Murakami.
It appeared as a recommendation on Audible, and I read it because the title caught my interest.
'5 Minutes After the World' is an overwhelming realistic novel by Ryu Murakami that depicts 'another Japan' where Japan did not surrender in World War II, but instead went underground and survived while continuing guerrilla warfare.
There is a scene in this work, which depicts human survival strategies in extreme conditions, that deeply shook my heart.
It is the scene where it explains the importance of deeply learning the enemy's language (English).
The characters in the story do not stop at mere language acquisition; they demonstrate a thorough stance of pragmatism and essentialism, stating that 'to surpass the opponent and fully understand their thinking, one must understand and use the meaning of English better than the Americans themselves.'
It is a cold, logical approach for survival, the exact opposite of the spiritualism seen in the 'ban on enemy languages' of past history.
In that, I felt the deep essence of what language possesses.
Reading the 'true intent' is the greatest defense
In our daily work and organizational management, we exchange countless words every day.
However, aren't we processing conversations only by the 'literal meaning' or 'tone' of those words?
I have long valued grasping the true intent of 'what kind of intention the other person is using those words with.' When I encountered the cold stance of 'deeply understanding the enemy's language' in the story, I felt a strong resonance with my own daily management philosophy.
Instead of judging the other person simply by superficial information, correctly grasping the 'original meaning and range of interpretation' behind the chosen words.
I became convinced that this is the most powerful weapon (option) for reading the other person's psychology more deeply and reducing friction between each other.
The margin of 'looking forward to' the other person's words without rushing to a conclusion
After finishing this work and organizing the 'lessons' gained from this book in the form of AI and reading logs, the following emerged.
It is that, rather than rushing to a conclusion and interrupting the conversation regarding the words uttered by others, I have become able to actively look forward to the other person's words, thinking, 'I wonder what kind of expressions this person will use to convey their thoughts'.
When we are in our busy daily lives, we inevitably seek efficiency and tend to get impatient, wanting people to 'start with the conclusion' or 'quickly grasp the main point of the story.' However, holding back and having the mental space (margin) to just wait for the words.
Even when conveying the same event, the expressions and approaches chosen by people vary widely.
When encountering expressions I don't usually use or new ways of speaking, I find it freshly interesting, asking 'Why did this person choose this expression?' and enjoying the very process of understanding others.
Precisely because the days are as harsh as guerrilla warfare, I have curiosity and respect for that moment when we exchange words.
That might be a 'mental survival strategy' for living richly without wearing myself out within a stifling organization.
Especially since I started listening to YouTube and Audible at double speed, don't you feel like the other person's speaking speed feels slow, or that you can figure out the conclusion while they are still talking? I thought I would try to have conversations while being conscious of listening to the other person slowly and thinking about the meaning of their words calmly.