The 128 most classic philosophical essays in the world

Chapter 37
[China] Liang Shiqiu

There are other people in this world besides me, and I am not the only porcupine in human form. It is best to restrain my quills, big and small, instead of stretching all my quills as much as possible like a peacock spreading its tail.

In the movie theater, we probably all often encounter an unpleasant experience.When you are concentrating on sitting quietly watching a movie, you will suddenly feel that the chair you are sitting on shakes, and it moves very evenly, so that you will not be thrown out of the seat, and the movement is so rapid that it will not shake you to sleep , vibrating so fast and slowly that it just makes you feel annoying.Probably a minor earthquake?Check the source of the earthquake from left to right, and suddenly it stops shaking.Just when you just pack up and go on watching the movie, the jitters come back.If one made up his mind to find the source of the quake, it was soon discovered that the trouble probably lay in the thigh of a gentleman nearby.He stepped on the front seat support with his toes and stretched his strength. Using the elasticity of his hamstrings, he trembled comfortably there.We would have forgiven him if the twitchy movements had been due to a fit of epilepsy or something like that, but unlike him, he was not foaming at the mouth.It didn't look like he was suffering from a nervous breakdown, his movements could be retracted and extended, he made and stopped, and commanded him as he wished.If it is said that he intends to make the passengers in the front, back, left and right rows unsafe, it is not the case.They are all strangers, without hatred or hatred. From the standpoint of the victim, there is only one explanation for this perverted behavior, that is, his will is too concentrated and he forgets that there are other people beside him. Attitude.

The spirit of "no one else" is manifested in more than one way in daily behavior.For example, lack of stretching is a common occurrence.But in the crowd, opening the huge mouth of blood, pretending to eat people, exposing the fangs in the mouth, and stretching the arms and legs as if performing Tai Chi, it is unavoidable to be scary.Some people yawned with music, and their voices were humming, like blowing a horn, like sounding an alarm, like the cry of a monkey, or like the chirping of a crane. "Book of Rites": "Sit on the gentleman, the gentleman is not stretched, write the staff, look at the sun, please come out." It is not extended to the ancient rituals, but it is also limited to "gentleman", how can ordinary people quote it?Stretching your arms and opening your mouth to people, even if it is not intimidating, at least makes people think that you are chasing guests, or that you cannot control your own limbs.There is an old man in the neighborhood, and I don't usually go home. Every time I come back, I will hear about it.There were three sneezes in the morning, not only crisp, but also loud and full of air. Based on the sound of the sounds, I speculated that there must be foreign objects in the nose, or someone inserted a paper twister, and the sounds hit the washbasin with the sound of gold and stone!Then there was a grand gargle, which was really overwhelming, like a bone stuck in the throat, and like a fly swallowing.Then came three full meals of belching, a series of belching sounds, as if the sewer was not smooth.It's a pity that he couldn't see him picking his teeth through the wall, otherwise the scene of the scraped and polished drilling project would not be too small.

All these "pretending to be there" performances are accidental incidents, and it is the loud conversation that is often disturbing.When calling for help, the voice is of course not too loud, unless the neck is stepped on by the soles of the feet, but ordinary conversations seem to be audible, and there is no need to use all your strength to deafen the deaf.Physiology tells us that the organs of pronunciation are very complicated. There are 1 movements and 100 yuan of muscle relaxation in one minute of speaking.A foreigner suspected that the eardrums of our countrymen were born strangely. The membrane may be very thick, and you can't hear them unless you stretch your necks, so talking always seems to be arguing.How much truth there is in this criticism, I don't know.However, no one can deny the ability of our countrymen to shout.

When the lights first go out in the movie theater, there are always a few voices of "Hey, little Saner, where are you?" , It feels like being in a frog pond.In the hotel, it seems that there are temple fairs in the front, back, left, and right sides, and you can’t sleep until late at night. After sleeping, it is inevitable that there will be no big leather boots with loud leather soles pacing up and down in front of you without shame.Before dawn, there were various noises from the market coming to disturb.It is instinct for a person to speak loudly; it is civilization to speak softly.As far as animals are concerned, lions roar, wolves howl, tigers howl, donkeys bray, and dogs bark, even if they are as small as a weave, their voices are not small, and they are not human-like. They sometimes speak in a low voice.Probably the higher the level of civilization, the less known for speaking loudly.The longer the habit of living in groups, the less likely it is to retain the illusion of "being alone".Our country is based on agriculture, and the countryside is sparsely populated. It is useless to whisper "Good morning" between the acres and fields. You have to stretch your neck and shout "Have you eaten?" In densely populated places, people's throats still cannot be narrowed.What's more strange is that broken gong voice, trumpet voice, and rooster voice are not regarded as defects by ordinary people, and Mai Xiangfa also openly said that loud voices are the most expensive!
Schopenhauer has a fable: A group of porcupines huddled together for warmth on a cold winter day; but their quills began to stab each other, and they had to disperse.But the cold drove them together again, and the same thing happened again.In the end, after several meetings and departures, they found it best to keep a considerable distance from each other.Likewise, the need to live in groups keeps the humanoid porcupines together, it's just the barbed, unpleasant quills in their nature that make each other repulsive.The distance which they at last found to be at peace with one another was the set of manners; and anyone who violated it was given a stern warning—in English—to keep a good distance.In this way, each other's need for warmth is only quite satisfied; but each other can avoid stabbing each other.Those who have some warmth themselves prefer to go far away, neither to stab others nor to be stabbed by others.

Escape is not the answer.We just hope that the human-shaped porcupine reminds us from time to time: there are other people in this world besides us, and I am not the only human-shaped porcupine. Stretch your bristles as far as possible.

Heart mark notes
"Looking Like No One" talks about the daily details, and describes various social situations and human nature in a documentary way.With a highly civilized attitude, Mr. Liang Shiqiu observed and dissected the ugly side of the world, and carved it carefully, revealing the gleam of reason.The style of writing seems peaceful, humorous and ordinary, but it contains a deep worry about the "national inferiority".

Social morality is one of the signs to measure the degree of civilization of a country.In our own existence, we must also pay attention to the existence of others, do not violate others, do not disturb others, and maintain an appropriate distance and politeness.Respect yourself, respect others, and be a civilized and harmonious person.

(End of this chapter)