Re: Tao Perl Ching - The Scripture of the Way of Perl

I need to go edit that entry at Wikipedia. There are two common misconceptions (by my interpretation) of the Tao Te Ching in that list.

One is in the statement "Self-interest and self-importance are vain and self-destructive." That should be "Self-importance is vain and self-destructive." Self-interest isn't either of the above except when misused. Of course, altruism can be vain and self-destructive as well and, in fact, might be thought as self-destructive by definition. Ayn Rand certainly thought of it that way, and it's awfully difficult to find fault with that particular part of her overall belief system.

The other is the statement that "feminine" qualities are "superior" to "masculine" properties, which is actually quite antithetical to some of the core wisdom of the Tao Te Ching. The very next statement in that list, "Everything in its own time and place," helps to make that clear, I think.

I currently own three copies of the Tao Te Ching, each being a different translation than the other two, and have read it in various translations several times. If pressed to label myself in terms of my metaphysical philosophy, I'd call myself a Taoist. I find such (accidental, I'm sure) misrepresentations of the wisdom of the Tao to be so prevalent is disappointing, though understandable in the context of post-modern Western value systems, which prevail in many universities in the US.

print substr("Just another Perl hacker", 0, -2);
- apotheon
CopyWrite Chad Perrin

Comment on Re: Tao Perl Ching - The Scripture of the Way of Perl

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Re^2: Tao Perl Ching - The Scripture of the Way of Perl
by radiantmatrix (Parson) on Dec 18, 2004 at 04:09 UTC

Yes, I agree that they were not the most well-phrased. But I didn't want to start a debate about my particular interpretations, so I just quoted someone else's that were fairly close.

Self-interest should be, in my opinion "self-absorbtion".

As far as "feminine" and "masculine"; as a 6'1" male who takes pride in his ability to embroider, I've always eschewed the labels of "feminine" and "masculine". I think the interpreter here took the analogy of Yin/Yang to Male/Female a bit too literally, which is all too common. As for the rest of the statement, I would personally say that the properties of flexibility and suppleness are at least as important as the others. To suggest that one quality is more important than another somewhat ignores the concepts of contrast and balance in the TTC.

But, all of that is waaay off-topic. More to the point, do you think the node would be better served if I just used my own versions of the priciples and ignored the WikiPedia article?

radiantmatrix
require General::Disclaimer; s//2fde04abe76c036c9074586c1/; while(m/(.)/g){print substr(' ,JPacehklnorstu',hex($1),1)}

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Re^3: Tao Perl Ching - The Scripture of the Way of Perl

by apotheon (Deacon) on Dec 18, 2004 at 04:17 UTC

Ooh! "Self-absorption" is great! I should have waited on this response before I edited the Wikipedia entry. I'll just have to go add that in now.

My point in regards to the contrast of "feminine" qualities and "masculine" qualities is actually based in the equal status of yin and yang in Chinese philosophy. Neither is "better" or "more important" than the other. They are different, and they are equal. One is more applicable in some circumstances, and the other is more applicable in other circumstances. I didn't like the suggestion that one should eschew yang for the sake of yin.

Considering that I'm engaged in editing the list in the Wikipedia article, you could probably just requote it, edit your node appropriately, and be done. If you have problems with my take on the interpretations, you can even re-edit the Wikipedia entry to suit yourself. That's the great thing about wiki sites. Who says you have to choose between the Wikipedia list and your own list of interpretations? Heh.

I'm sure there's some Taoist moral to be learned from this, but I'm not feeling sufficiently poetic right now to formulate it in English.

print substr("Just another Perl hacker", 0, -2);
- apotheon
CopyWrite Chad Perrin

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