I have to admit, I’ve always been skeptical about myths and traditions that have been told to me since young. A case in point would be when I was told that scattering rice around the house upon moving in would bring good fortunes to the owners. I remember mildly arguing with the person that correlation does not prove causation, in that the action of scattering the rice may not have directly caused the fortune. Perhaps the tradition increased the owner’s self-efficacy, which then resulted in him performing better in his career?
But now, thinking back on what I said, does it actually matter if the tradition did not directly lead to the improvements in career? What is important instead is that his career did improve, regardless of what the causes are. I’ve learnt that when exploring cultures other than our own, be it in SEA or the rest of the world, we cannot take an ethnocentric approach, judging these cultures using our own as a benchmark. We have to look deeper into each tradition and belief, and see what are the functional benefits for the people adhering to them. Even if according to our standards (which are constantly influenced by the need for scientific evidence), the traditions don’t make sense, what matters is it benefits the people, whether emotionally or spiritually. If it provides its followers with ease of mind, does it really matter is it actually does not work?
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4 comments:
Rice has became part and parcel of many of our lives. I remember my mum used to tell my a myth 'girl.. You must finish your rice, or else, next time your husband's face will be very ugly.' Thinking back, I started laughing, but it is the way our older generation encourage their children to cultivate the good habit of not wasting food. However, have many people living on the earth, especially the people from the developed countries take rice for granted? Have we forgotten how much effort has been put in, in order to satisfy us, the hungry eater?
Yea it would matter i would say. See, given if the person is so dead-set on this set of mythical beliefs so much so that he would not take a single action till he has fully done his rituals, won't he then be at a loss?
I would think that yupp, all rituals have their basis on one thing or another, but if it's one that holds you back and will only lead to detriment, then why bother?
I agree with you Khairul. The effectiveness of the ritual does matter if the person depended his life solely on the ritual. I was referring more on another group of people, who are less consumed about the rituals. To explain the point I was trying to make, I shall use an example. A person gets up to pray every morning, seeking for a blessed day. The day ends, and he returns home safe and sound. Can we say for a fact that the prayer resulted in his day proceeding on smoothly, or did the prayer allow him to leave the house with ease of mind? My point is that the answer does not really matter because the crux of the matter is he returned home safety.
Rice is cool. I like rice.
Nice with soya sauce.
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