In these days, I find that people tend to shy away while questions
touch on their privacy or secret. Few days ago, my friend would like to show me
a short film she shot with her mobile phone. At first, I watched the screen
with her while she was searching the short film. All of a sudden, she screamed out
and took her phone away from me. I had no idea what had happened then, so I
kept asking her, “What’s wrong? Is there something you can’t show me?” But she
didn’t give me an answer, and shy away from my questions with an abashed smile.
In Anger Management, I wrote a sentence, “Let’s put political
suppression aside.” In “Political Turbulence－Elections in Taiwan”, I talked about politics in Taiwan, but I did
not discuss this issue in depth. Since blog is a public space, anyone may have
the chance to read what I post on blog. Politics is a sensitive issue, so
talking about it in public, especially on the Internet, is somewhat improper.
Also, to avoid fanatics stir up written polemics, I think it is better to shy
away from such specific subjects.
In my opinion, if a person can't critically analyze important issues
in his/her life, he/she will become a person without any ideas. Thus, when
others talk about current issues, he/she will not know how to respond and
become a boring person. On the other hand, if someone always has to analyze everything,
this habit may be good for the people around in the beginning because he/she
can give some useful suggestions. However, he/she may get into a dead end after
analyzing overly. Too much is as bad as not enough; we should analyze things
aptly.
▲How about “It’s not me, it’s you”?
Original discussion: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/e0915951617/article?mid=452&prev=456&next=437&page=1&sc=1#yartcmt
I’ve found that people around my age used to shy away from questions related to their relationships and sexual orientations. For instance, every time I ask one of my friends whether he likes boys or not, he always replies the question with an ambiguous smile in stead of a definite answer. The main causes of my friend’s action may result form preserving his own privacy and avoiding from being labeled as gay or homosexual. However, I don’t see any problem toward their shy-away action for it’s indeed not their obligations to answer all the questions.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Taiwan is a country which advocates the freedom of speech, Elsa and I both choose not to talk too much about the issue of politics. According to my responses to “Political Turbulence－Elections in Taiwan”, I chose to describe the atmosphere and personal observation of the politics in Taiwan rather than criticizing politicians and the operation of politics itself. And the reason why I share the somehow limited response can attribute to being afraid of the attack of some politics fanatics online.
The outcomes of people who don’t have critical thinking may lead them to be quiet in group’s discussion and be panic when studying in English department since we’re often asked to critically analyze poem, essay, novel or even film. It’s good to adopt critical thinking on literature and studies but we should avoid extremes; therefore, we shouldn’t be too critical and try to analyze everything around us which are annoying.
It is quite funny that people around you and me tend to reply questions they don’t want to answer with a smile. After thinking for a while, I think I will have the same reaction if I am under such an embarrassing situation. Smiling is a good way to decline others without causing a deadlock. When it comes to homosexual, I agree that they can decide by themselves whether they want to disclose their sexual orientations. Not only homosexuals but also ordinary people have their own privacy, and we should show our respect toward it.
DeleteIt is because of the freedom of speech in Taiwan that not only we but also others can express their thoughts. If everyone can stay rational while talking about sensitive issues, we don’t have to worry about someone may hurl invectives. It’s good for us to cultivate our ability of analyzing with critical thinking. Yet, if we analyze overly, I think that extremes will only bring about counter effect.
I agree with your opinion that smiling is the politest way to shy away questions that we don’t want to answer and avoid creating awkward atmosphere during the conversation. Actually, smiling can be the most common way that people adopt for disguising our negative emotions. However, smiling from the bottom of my heart can be an art for me because I used to have difficulty in smiling naturally under embarrassing circumstances.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, trying to get rid off the pressure and prejudice from the public may be the reason why most homosexuals tend to shy away when asked the questions about their sexual orientations. Although Taiwanese become more open-minded toward the homosexual issue nowadays, lots of homosexual still don’t have the courage to speak out loud for themselves. So, I think there is still room for us to improve, to be more friendly to them.
Everyone can stay rational while talking about sensitive issues is the same wish that we have for the society. Nevertheless, people’s opinions are easy to be exaggerated and distorted since the media nowadays all become rating-oriented. The media prefer all kinds of public opinions which are harsh, critical or emotional. And it could be the reason why there are more irrational commentators today.
I think it is necessary to practice smiling because it can help us in many ways, such as showing positive attitude or getting rid of embarrassing situation. In my case, I rarely smile, thus I am always told that I am hard to get close to. Also, people who stay or chat with me always feel embarrassed and stressful. I try to smile more, but it is really hard for me.
DeleteBoth the bias from the public and the pressure from parents discourage homosexuals to manifest their sexual orientations. Well, I think if their parents support their own will, maybe how the public think about them will not be so important.
I don’t like the way media report news. They always overstate an event with scare headline, and even garble what the spokesmen say. Since the media not exactly telling us the truth, it is our responsibility to select what we read on the news, and cultivate our media literacy.