Neo-flagellants

There is more masochism in the Christian and post-Christian Western culture than in any other culture. In the past, the flagellants whipped themselves for their sins, nowadays the leftist liberals are doing more or less the same. We must think that we are the worst sinners in the world, being guilty of colonialism, sexism, imperialism, racism, slavery, Communism, Fascism, etc. We have sinned, we have done so much harm to Africans, Asians, native Americans, Muslims... Somehow the Africans, Asians, American Indians and Muslims are not plagued by such remorses. I haven't read of any attempt by some Muslim movement to repent, to ask for forgiveness from black Africans or Europeans for their colonialism, piracy and slave trade. The western do-gooders are even trying to reshape their sexist and imperialist language, to ban all words smelling of sexism, colonialism and imperialism. The Islamic theologians or activists have not asked for forgiveness from Jews and Christians persecuted and massacred. There are no such flagellants in China either. In other cultures, people either think that their culture, resp. religion is the best one or at least not worse than the others. Only the Westerners seem sometimes to think that theirs is the worst, the most unjust in the world, and they whip themselves and repent in public. They don't ask whether some other cultures and nations have not done even more terrible things. And sometimes they organize mass meetings, demonstrations and protest actions. The flagellants were vehemently anti-semitic, often killing Jews in towns they passed. The modern flagellants haven't so far organized pogroms. But they actively organize protest campaigns against Jews, against Israel.

puuk vallut mu

Kõneldas, et jälki omma eesti mehe "vallutanu" ilmamaa kõge korgemba mäe Mount Everesti. Sis võissi üteldä ka, et puuk, kiä om päsnü mu päähä hiussihe, om mu ära vallutanu... Piät väiko puugikene olema, Džomolungma om päält 4000 kõrda korgep ku inemine.

More human, more primate-like?

It is proven, that in affluent societies, men have more typically male personality features, and women more female ones as measured by psychologists. This despite the advances of gender equality, the fact that many women nowadays do work that was in the past reserved for men and vice versa. The explanation offered to this, at first sight paradoxical result is simple: nowadays people have more chances to become what they want to become and to be what they want to be: there is more freedom, and both men and women make use of it. This study proves that the for most of us, having male or female mind is something inborn, although in traditional, and necessarily non-affluent societies we cannot make full use of our inborn characteristics.

Now, we may ask whether this is true also of our "animal-like" characteristics, of the features we have in common with chimps, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans. Are we nowadays more similar to the big apes than in the past? We have indeed more sexual freedom, more freedom to play, to socialize, to chat and to have bodily contact with other people. We spend a lot of time boasting, competing, our aggression is canalized into entertainment and sports. Our inquisitive, explorative behavior finds a more or less free outlet in science and technology, as well as in tourism. These are but some of the parallels between the modern Homo sapiens and his/her primate cousins.

For many moralists, especially religious ones, re-emergence of our primate-like features is a clear sign of our degeneration, and points to the urgent need of returning to the traditional way of life, to "family values", to God-given rules, etc. However, the fact is that in our modern "decadent", "immoral" societies, there is much less violent crime and much less theft too than there was and is in more traditionalist, religious ones. And often the perpetrators of violent crime are precisely the moralists, traditionalists, fundamentalists. In some countries, it's a crime for a widowed woman to have sex with a man, but it is not a crime to stone her to death. One of many horrific paradoxes of the modern world.

The environment we need?

I feel I am a somewhat archaic human being: I really feel a forest, a beach, the cloudy or starry sky are more interesting than any man-made environment. It fits well into the theory: we humans are foraging animals who had to be keen observers, the complex natural environment of savannah and seaside shaped us, made us what we are. And most probably this is the environment we still need, where we feel well. The rush to beaches, to seaside resorts seems to prove this. But why then there are many people satisfied with urban environment that is necessarily (Shannon's theorem for example is a proof of it) poorer than forest or seaside? Why are so many of us alienated from forest, from nature? Are the urbanites and modern farmers whose environment consists of buildings, monocultures and TV, somewhat their own pets, domesticated animals who are accustomed to live in their cages and don't feel well in more complex environments, are afraid of forest, of night, of mosquitoes, bees, mice and frogs? Why do we accept destruction of natural forests, replacing them with tree plantations? I feel so well in my own forest where every tree has a character of its own, where there are so many other plants in addition to trees, so much buglife and birdlife. And it's hard for me to understand how many other people don't feel like that and are not interested in preserving the nature in its real complexity, in fighting against excessive humanization, simplification of our environment. Do I belong to a small and powerless minority with my desperate need of Nature?

Лица и морды

Людeй, особенно людей мужского пола можно разделить на имеющих лица и имеющих морды или хари. Конечно, чистых мордастых и чистых обладателей лиц (личностей?) немного, большинство из нас имеет признаки и тех и других. А по моим наблюдениям, мужчины сидящие за рулем своих дорогих машин чаще попадают во вторую категорию, являются более мордастыми чем остальная часть населения. Поэтому я чувствую себя плохо на бензостанциях и в авторемонтных мастерских. Глядя на мужчин там, вдруг чувствую, что мир или та его часть, где проживаю я, мне чужд и враждебен.

Mis on Tartun hirmus

Kevväi om käen ja lumi Tarto liinast lännü. Ja nigu Joel Sanga luuletusen, sulas lume alt vällä pallo aska ja muud. Tarto liin on varra keväjelt peris hirmus. Ja toda hirmsust tege viil suurembas seo, et liinan ole-i õigit parke. Tuust asast ole pallo kirotanu ja ei taha pikembält inäp kirotada. Parkest ja "hallasallust" roogitas vällä puhma ja tulemus om "rohilane kõrb", kon saisva samba ja kõk paistus läbi. Inemise silmi kotsil ole-i midägi rohilast, ole-i ello. Lätsi üle Ülikooli käen oleva suure nurme Ravila uulitsa veeren, koh saisva tehnoluugiainstituut ja kiimiamaja. Innemalt olli tolle nurme pääl inemiisil aiakeisi ja kasvi puhmit ja puid. Olli midägi varolist. Nüit sis om kõk tuu varoline är häütet, paar salgakest kõive inne om jäetü, näide ümbert om aga pajovitsakese ja kõk madalamp är ragotu. Kai toda ja vihasti. Mõtli, et kas om jälki parke ja hallasallu asjamehis võetu politseiniku, kinkä mure om tuu, et es olessi puhmit, sis ei ole pättel ja asotsiaalel kohegi hinnäst käkki. Nii vai tõisilde, tuu politselik pargiarhitektuur om Tarton iks võimul ja nii või üteldä, et Tarto om politseiliin. Kas sis Eesti om ka politseiriik? Jummal sa tiiät. Tahtmine Tarton ellä kaos kül är.

Стихи и тишина

Хорошее, настоящее стихотворение, как и настоящая картина или музыкальное произведение -- в них больше тишины чем звука или красок. Настоящее искусство создает островок, оазис тишины посреди повседневнего шума, забот, потока сознания. А тишина -- это свобода. Свобода -- это возможность снова найти себя, прийти, возвратиться в себя из забвения, из иллюзий, шума звуков, образов, мыслей. Наше сознание полно такого шума, искусство иногда помогает нам избавиться от него хотя на несколько минут.