Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissism was defined by the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSMIV) in 2013, in terms of significant impairments in personality functioning, as “looking excessively to others for the regulation of self-esteem, viewing oneself exceptional, having impaired empathy, and having mostly superficial relationships and the personality traits of grandiosity and attention-seeking.” So, narcissism is when a person looks at those people who are around him/her and tries to criticize those people in order to make his/her self-esteem higher and in order to believe that he/she is better than all the others. Narcissism is creating a world of one’s own in which the environment rotates around one’s self and is given its importance depending on what value the narcissist person decides to give it. Narcissism was first identified as a mental disorder by Havelock Ellis in 1898. The personality disorder is named after the mythological word Narcissus. Narcissus was a person who fell in love with his own reflection. So, all the definitions come together as one to define what falling in love with one’s own person at an extreme level can cause and how it affects the way in which a person thinks and sees his/her environment. Narcissism is normally associated with the personality characteristic of egocentrism in which people see themselves, their interests and their opinions as the only ones that truly matter and isolate their opinions from whatever everyone else thinks. The exact causes for narcissism are not known but researchers have discovered that certain narcissistic genes can be inherited but they can only be developed depending on the biological vulnerability of a person and the sociocultural factors or the environment where a person lives in.    

The etiology of the narcissistic personality disorder can be biological (genetic), cognitive and sociocultural as well. The three of them have an impact in creating and developing a narcissist person.
Most people believe that genetics have nothing to do with a person who becomes a narcissist because most people are not born with a certain personality but they create their personality as they grow and live their lives. Nevertheless, researchers have proven all of these people wrong because they have found that narcissism can be a common inherited trait. Researchers have studied the effect of genetics in the narcissistic personality disorder by looking at both twin studies and examination of the human genome. According to a study in 2007 that was published in the International Journal of Neuropsycopharmacology, it was found that the specific gene called tryptophan hydroxylase-2 can cause certain personality disorders, including narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). This gene mainly regulates the production of serotonin in the brain and that is the reason why it is able to change the mood and way of being of a person. Livesley et al carried out a study with 175 volunteer twin pairs (ninety identical and eighty-five fraternal), in which each twin had to complete a questionnaire about some characteristics of a personality disorder. In this study, the researchers were able to find that narcissism had the highest heritability with 64% and that this trait in the identical twins was significantly influenced by genetics. So, genetic factors can play a significant role in whether a person has NPD or not.
NPD is influenced as well by the cognitive factors which include the factors from the mind and brain. Normally, when determining the causes of NPD, cognitive and sociocultural factors clash into each other to create this personality disorder. In the International Handbook of Personality and Intelligence by Donald H. Saklofske, the cognitive problem in NPD is defined as the lost of balance in the process when “incoming information has to be narrowed down and irrelevant information selectively excluded, a process that is postulated to occur through a balancing of facilitatory processing of task-relevant stimuli and the inhibition of task-irrelevant ones (page 240).” So the process that is being described is that of incoming information or all of those interactions with the environment that has to be narrowed down in the brain to create who a person is, but if there is not a balance between the facilitator of determining what tasks are relevant and which ones are irrelevant, then the person will show a vulnerability in his/her mind and will tend to react in a narcissist way so that every information coming from him/her is relevant and that coming from others is irrelevant most of the times.  Many researchers suggest that NPD is caused because of childhood experiences that a person suffered such as very high expectations from nurturing (for example parents), over-pampering, neglect, and even abuse. According to researchers, the way in which some people respond to all of these situations is by hating all of those around them because of what they have done to them and by isolating in a world of their own in which everything they think and do is right to them and they have no empathy to those around them. This response is normally prevalent with children that have a vulnerable mind that is easily affected with what other people say and think of them. The only solution at times seems to be isolating and loving themselves to an extreme in order for them to be happy without needing all of the other serious interactions with those around them; that is why they have superficial relationships. Therefore, cognitive and sociocultural factors are very important to understand NPD because of how the brain/mind of a person responds to the way in which he/she is being treated and how this relationship shapes the personality of the person. 

The common symptoms and behavior patterns for people that suffer from a narcissistic personality disorder are: an insatiable appetite for the attention of other people, extreme feelings of jealousy, exaggerate their achievements, talents and importance, extremely sensitive, fantasies regarding how great they are, lack of empathy, superficial relationships, normally people with NPD tend to respond to criticisms with anger, humiliation and shame, they are arrogant, easy to hurt, and they are simply obsessed with themselves. All of these are symptoms and behavioral patterns that can let a person know who suffers from NPD and what to expect from a person who suffers from this. 

To diagnose a patient with NPD the doctor must use the criteria given by the DSMIV which states that the patient’s idea and importance of self is exaggerated, fantasies about beauty, success and power over-dominate the patient’s thoughts, patients think they are special and only relate with special people like them, they need to be admired all the time, believe they are entitled to all things, manipulate and take advantage of people, they lack empathy, envy other people and their behavior is haughty and arrogant. Every diagnosis must follow this criteria and the patient must show all of these symptoms and behavioral patterns in order to be diagnosed with NPD. This diagnosis is normally done by interviewing the patient and by analyzing how the patient interacts with his/her environment. 

There is no specific treatment that can cure NPD, but psychotherapy is often recommended. Psychotherapy is a type of counseling in which the person will learn to relate and interact with other people. The purpose of psychotherapy is to help the patients understand what their problems and hope that when they realize they actually have a problem, they will change their beliefs and behaviors. Normally family or group therapy is given as a treatment to patients that suffer from NPD and the purpose for this is for the patient to identify all the negative behavior patterns and beliefs that he/she has and replace them for healthy and positive ones. This is known as the cognitive behavioral therapy. In certain situations the doctors could prescribe medications to patients that suffer from NPD such as anti-depressants so that the person does not become depressed when he/she realized that something is wrong with them and have a problem. Psychotherapy is the best treatment and patients normally end having a standard self-esteem in which they acquire realistic expectations of themselves and other people. 

There are many people around us that suffer from narcissistic personality disorder and some of them can commonly be famous writers, actors and celebrities over all. There is a theory that explains how celebrities normally become narcissistic ones they have worked really hard to get where they are; mostly because when they are up there they believe they are the best and therefore the world rotates around them and they can do whatever they want. This reaction to becoming a celebrity can be very common because of all the economic benefits they get and how they are able to feel powerful to a certain extent. Some celebrities or famous people that suffer or suffered from narcissistic personality disorder are: Jim Jones, Saddam Hussein, Warren Beatty, Elvis Presley, Pablo Picasso, and Charlie Chaplin. Most of the famous dictators as well form the nineteenth century and throughout the world wars suffered from narcissistic personality disorder such as: Adolph Hitler; he was self-centered, preoccupied with power, control prestige and grandiosity thoughts, and Joseph Stalin; he eliminated political opposition and he wanted so much power, control, prestige and vanity that he even sent to jail, normally to Gulags, all of those who disagreed with him. Other celebrities that have suffered from NPD are: Marilyn Manson, O.J. Simpson, Paris Hilton, and Madonna. 

There have been studies lately that have confirmed that men are actually the more narcissistic sex. Psychologists from the University of Buffalo found that men outscored women in almost about every measure of narcissism. The researchers analyzed 31 years worth of personality test results from 475 thousand people. The results showed that men tend to be more narcissist than women. The researchers looked at three facets of narcissism during the study and these were leadership, assertiveness and desire for power. Also confidence, inflated self-esteem and exhibitionism were analyzed during the study. It seems like men are more likely to feel that they deserve certain prestige and privileges and therefore they act in a narcissistic way. 

Work Cited Page

1) Simone Hoerman, Corinne Zupanick, and Mark Dombeck. (Copyright 2015) Cognitive-Behavioral Theory of Personality Disorder. Retrieved from: http://www.sevencounties.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=41564&cn=8

2) The Huffington Post. (March 07, 2015) Science Confirms That Men Are The More Narcissistic Sex. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/06/men-narcissism_n_6807852.html

3) Donald, H. S. (1995). International Handbook of Personality and Intelligence. NY: Plenum Press. 

4) Alexander Bugemeester. (April 3, 2013) Famous People With Narcissism. Retrieved from: http://thenarcissisticlife.com/famous-people-with-narcissism/

5) American Psychiatric Association. (2012) DSM-IV and DSM-5 Criteria for the Personality Disorders. Retrieved from:  http://www.psi.uba.ar/academica/carrerasdegrado/psicologia/sitios_catedras/practicas_profesionales/820_clinica_tr_personalidad_psicosis/material/dsm.pdf

6) Frederick Rhodewalt. (May 29, 2014) Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Retrieved from: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/403456/narcissism

Une rapide coup d'œil à notre passé

Normalement, nous vivons notre vie sans regarder le passé ; sans se demander comment il était et comment quelques choses ont changé. Plusieurs de temps, nous ne réalisent pas toutes les sources primaires que nous avons autour de nous pour découvrir la vérité du passé. De nombreuses valeurs ont caractérisé notre société actuelle, comme : la mode, la politique, l’idée d’avoir d’argent et l'importance d'étudier. Ma mère est une professeure et elle sera ma principale source pour découvrir les valeurs qui étaient les plus importantes dans le passé. Ma mère s’appelle Maria Seas et ceci c’est l'interview que m'a fait découvrir la différence impressionnante entre son temps et mon temps :
1. María, quelle est la période de temps pendant laquelle vous étiez étudiante à l'école secondaire ?
« J’étais une étudiante à l'école secondaire au cours des années quatre-vingt. »
2. Quelle était l'importance de la mode dans votre lycée? Etait important pour vous de porter les nouveaux vêtements ou pas?
« Tout d'abord, je tiens à dire que, dans mon lycée, nous avons porté une uniforme, le mien était avec un pantalon noir et une chemise verte et nous avons besoin de les acheter aussi. En dehors de l'école, le mode était un peu important, mais pas beaucoup; il n’était pas nécessaire pour être amis avec quelqu'un ou pour faire partie d'un certain groupe. »
3. Est-ce qu’il était important de savoir sur la politique pour votre famille?Est-ce que vous étiez bien informé sur la politique ou est-ce que vous n’étiez pas vraiment intéressé du tout?
« Je dirais ... Oui, la politique était très important au cours de mon temps et surtout pour ma famille.Nous avons toujours été bien informés sur la politique afin que nous puissions voter pour la personne qui a offert les meilleurs avantages pour nous. Nous vivions dans une ferme et nous avons besoin de savoir comment bien nos vaches et les porcs seraient vendus. Aussi, dans mon lycée nous discutons toujours de la politique entre mes amis parce que notre pays, Costa Rica, était très uni et nous avons voulu choisir une personne qui saurait comment le diriger bien. »
4. Bon. Maintenant, pourriez-vous nous expliquer l'importance, si elle était, de l'argent pendant votre temps?Est-ce qu’il y avait une relation entre l'éducation et l’argent ? Quelle était l'importance de l'éducation et était-elle obligatoire?

« Oui, il y avait beaucoup d'importance donné à l'argent au cours de notre temps.Les familles ont beaucoup d'enfants avec l’espoir que la plupart d'entre eux peuvent travailler et la famille peut obtiendrait plus d'argent. Après le lycée, je devrais normalement aller avec ma mère à ramasser le café afin que nous puissions obtenir plus d'argent pour acheter de la nourriture. Il n'y avait pas de relation entre l'éducation et de l'argent ; mes parents n’ont jamais donné d’importance à mes études et si j’avais besoin de quelque chose pour le lycée, je devais trouver un moyen pour l’obtenir. Normalement, les enfants finiraient seulement l'école primaire, parce qu'il était obligatoire par le gouvernement, mais les parents encourageraient les enfants à abandonner l'école quand ils étaient âgés de sept à onze ans, de façon qu'ils puissent travailler et donner plus d’argent à la famille. L'éducation n’était pas importante et la seule raison pour laquelle je continuais à étudier, était parce que je voulais faire une différence et un changement dans ma vie. »
4.Que signifie le bonheur pour vous?
« Le bonheur était d'avoir quelque chose à manger et d'être autour de la famille tout le temps. Le bonheur était de partager et profiter avec ceux qui nous entourent et d'être une société connectée en tout temps. »

5. Merci beaucoup, il était très intéressant de noter la différence entre votre temps et mon temps.

Ce c’était une rapide coup d'œil sur le passé et nous avons remarqué que les seules choses que les deux sociétés avaient en commun est l'importance donnée à l'argent et aussi l’importance donné a la politique. Il semblait que au cours des années quatre-vingt, ils étaient seulement préoccupés pour survivre et pas pour acheter les plus nouveaux vêtements, ni les plus nouveaux appareils électroniques. Ce qui est de valeur pour les gens ont vraiment changé dans un délai de trente-quatre ans. Bonheur pour eux était une société unie et d’être avec la famille. Parfois, il semble que le bonheur pour nous est d'avoir les plus nouveaux vêtements et les plus nouveaux appareils électroniques, quelle tristesse. Je me demande comment il serait dans l'avenir!   

What would Fidel Castro say in 2014? ¿Que diria Fidel Castro en el 2014?

Buenos días ciudadanos de Cuba
Good morning citizens of Cuba 

Hoy quiere venir a hablarles sobre todo lo que hemos pasado juntos para poder hacer que la economía de Cuba mejore. Hemos pasado calamidades, momentos trágicos, momentos en que todos nuestros esfuerzos han fallado, hasta el punto en que no hemos sido capaces de pensar en nuevas formas para ayudar a nuestra economía. Pero, algo muy importante debemos tener en mente, debemos recordar que en todo momento hemos estado juntos durante estas situaciones y nada nos ha podido detener. A continuación les recuerdo algunos de estos momentos trágicos y las soluciones con las que los hemos contra-atacado:

In this morning, I stand before you because I want to remind you about all of those situations that we have gone through in order to help the economy of Cuba develop. We have experienced calamities, tragic moments, moments in which all of our efforts have seemed worthless, to the point, that we have not been capable of thinking about new ways in which we can help our economy. But, something very important that we must always have in mind is that we need to remember that through all of these complicated situations, we have been together until the end and nothing has been able to stop us. Now, I would like to remind you about some of these situations and the solutions that we have developed to counterattack them:

Antes de mi entrada a la presidencia de Cuba, había una democracia. Pero qué tipo de democracia era esta? Era una democracia corrupta, con mucha violencia política, nuestras ciudades estaban llenas de grupos criminales que derramaban sangre de miles de cubanos inocentes, además de la difícil situación económica que nuestro país se encontraba en, gracias a la costosa independencia de España en 1902 y la mala administración de la presidencia anterior que no ayudó a mejorar la economía en lo más mínimo. Yo crecí en estas condiciones y yo entiendo lo difícil que fue para muchos de nosotros. Mis compatriotas cubanos, les recuerdo la forma en que los Estados Unidos intentaron tomar control de Cuba por medio de lo que llamaban la ley de Platt en 1906-1909. Esta ley les daba el derecho de intervenir con su ejército en Cuba cuando quisieran. 

Before my entrance into the presidency of Cuba, there was a democracy. But what kind of democracy was it? It was a corrupt democracy, with a lot of political violence; our cities were filled with gangs that would shed blood from the hundreds of innocent Cubans that they killed; as well as the difficult economic situation our country was going through because of the costly independence from Spain in 1902 and the poor administration from the previous presidents that didn’t help to recover. I grew up in these conditions, suffering from all of these, and I understand how hard it was for most of us. My Cuban compatriots, we must not forget how the United States tried to took control over Cuba with the Platt Amendment in 1906 until 1909. This amendment gave them the right to intervene militarily in Cuba.    

Todas estas condiciones en las que yo crecí me motivaron a tomar poder sobre Cuba para llevar al país por un mejor camino y darnos a nosotros los ciudadanos cubanos el país que nos merecemos. Tomar control sobre Cuba, por supuesto, no fue fácil y fue gracias al apoyo brindado por ustedes que lo logré. Yo era parte del grupo los Ortodoxos; un grupo en el cual discutíamos las injustas condiciones en las que estábamos viviendo y pensábamos en soluciones para las mismas. Este grupo tenía cada vez más y más cubanos que se ofrecían para hacer un cambio en Cuba. La propaganda usada por los ortodoxos fue de gran ayuda para atraer a más voluntarios. Fue gracias a miembros de este grupo que logramos formar la revolución perfecta para derrotar al ejército armado de Batista. Tuvimos muchas victorias en las cuales 800 de nuestras guerrillas derrotaron a 30,000 hombres armados del ejército de Batista, hasta que logramos que él emigrara el país. Pero esto nunca hubiera sido posible sin todo su apoyo. 

All of these terrible conditions in which I grew up became a motivation for me to take control over Cuba and lead the country to a better future, as well as providing us Cubans the country that we deserve to live in. Taking control over Cuba wasn’t easy because of the way in which Batista used the military forces to assure his power in Cuba, but it was thanks to you that I was able to come to power. I remember being part of the group the Ortodoxos; a group in which we used to discuss all of the unfair treatments we were receiving from Batista’s government in Cuba and we would come up with solutions to these problems. I got tired of discussing and I decided to take action. The Ortodoxos had many revolutionary volunteers coming in, as a result of the very effective propaganda the group had. It was thanks to this group that I was able to prepare the perfect revolution to overthrow Batista. We had many many victories, I remember when 800 of our guerilla forces defeated 30,000 men of Batista’s army, and so many more that Batista had no other option than to flee to another country. This would have never been possible without all of your support. 

Algo que siempre he tenido en mente desde el día que empecé mi presidencia en Cuba es el orgullo que cada uno de nosotros debe tener como cubanos. Por esta misma razón, muchas de nuestras industrias y empresas son 100% cubanas hoy en día. Hemos logrado que la educación y el seguro social sean gratuitos para todos los ciudadanos que habitan este hermoso país. Gracias a estos esfuerzos por sobresalir como cubanos que somos, es que nuestro futuro será brillante.

One thing that I have always had in mind since the first day I started my presidency is the pride that each one of us must have as Cubans that we are. We do not need of anybody else to overcome our own problems as long as we stay together. This has been proven with the many industries and businesses that we have nationalized. One of the greatest accomplishments has been the provision of free education and healthcare to all of the citizens that live in this beautiful country. It is thanks to all of these efforts that we have been able to outstand as Cubans and this is the assurance as well of the bright future we have in front of us. 

Derrotamos a los Estados Unidos gracias a la ayuda brindada por parte de la Unión Soviética en la Crisis de los Misiles de Cuba en 1961. Nuestro ejército ha incrementado de una forma impresionante y nos ha dado orgullo durante las continuas victorias que hemos tenido. Gracias a este ejército hemos tenido la oportunidad de brindarle ayuda a Nicaragua, El Salvador, Bolivia, Venezuela, y otros países socialistas que merecen de nuestra ayuda; mejorando nuestras relaciones internacionales y teniendo un ingreso más para nuestra economía. Con los Estados Unidos no podemos tener relaciones por más que quisiera porque el embargo que aún no han quitado nos da desigualdad a la hora de negociar. Pero con la Unión Soviética nuestras relaciones seguirán mejorando. En este momento nuestro turismo ha incrementado, tenemos mucha población española, francesa y canadiense visitando los lugares extravagantes que nuestro país les ofrece y al mismo tiempo, mejorando nuestra economía. 

We defeated the United States with the help of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1961. The size of our military has increased considerably and this has allowed us to help other countries such as Nicaragua, El Salvador, Bolivia, Venezuela and many more others that are socialists or want to become socialists; and at the same time improving our international relations and having more incomes to better our economy. With the United States, as much as I wish, no relations have been possible because of the Embargo Act that creates an unequal environment for us to even consider opening our doors to them. But, with the Soviet Union, our relationship is so stable that they even consider us as another state from them. In this moment, our tourism has grown and we have hundreds of Spanish, French and Canadian tourists coming to visit the extravagant places that our country offers them. 

Para terminar, quiero recordarles algo que en realidad no me trae agrado alguno…. Y es cuando yo mismo tuve que torturar a muchos individuales oponiéndose a un gobierno con el único deseo de brindarles mejores condiciones de vida. Tuve que presenciar actos atrocitos en los cuales algunos simplemente eran encerrados en la cárcel, pero otros iban al paredón; en el paredón les cubría su cara y les daba la oportunidad de decir su última oración antes de ser fusilados por hombres de nuestro ejército. No importaba si era joven, adulto, pobre o rico, todos fueron tratados con igualdad debido a su oposición. Pero esto fue necesario para lograr el gobierno estable que tenemos en este momento y asegurar nuestro futuro brillante que cada vez se ve más cerca. Mis compatriotas cubanos, todo esto hemos pasado y nada nos ha logrado separar ni detener, así que sigamos juntos para lograr de este país el país que aspiramos tener.

To end my speech, I want to remind you of something that does not bring me any pleasure at all… This is when I, myself, had to order our military to torture many of the individuals that were opposing a government with the only wish of bettering our life conditions in Cuba. I had to witness normal acts such as bringing someone to jail, and other tragic acts such as what we called “The Wall”; in the wall our firing squad would cover the head of the traitors and would give them the opportunity of saying their last prayer before they died. It didn’t matter if they were young, old, poor or rich; all of them were treated equally because of their opposition. But this was necessary to achieve the stable government that we have and it was necessary to ensure the bright future that everyday seems to be closer for Cuba. My Cuban compatriots, we have gone through all of these and nothing has been able to neither stop us nor separate us, therefore we must continue being together to make of this country the one that we aspire.        

Muchas gracias. 

Thank you. 

                

It Takes All Kinds to Make a Family

            Most people could define family as a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household. Other people will go deeper and state that a family is not only a group of parents and children living together, but that there is more to create what it means a real family. A real family is created by the never ending love shared by different individuals and by the willingness of a group of people to give all they have for a member of their group. These two characteristics make bonds between members of a group inseparable and unbreakable, and at the same time are the key to create what can be define as a family. 

People with different attitudes, traditions and different ways of living, interact everyday with other people that are different from how they are, to try to create a family. Many people do not stand being with a person they don’t like, but when they are in a place where they live together and are forced to interact with each other, they somehow get used to this person to the point of loving each other so much, that they will give their life for that person. A family is created by different types of people interacting every single day and spending time together in order to create unmemorable memories that will rest in the mind of the members of the group forever. Funny, sometimes embarrassing and humiliating memories, no matter how they are, they all bring happiness to the group and make the group grow as a whole and learn from what they have been through together. 

When one of the members of the group is going throughout a difficult and painful situation, she/he starts feeling this continuing support from people she/he is just getting to know and barely understands the reason why she/he is receiving it from these people. This kind of support is not one that ends after the problem is solved but is rather one that is given throughout somebody’s entire life without lessening the amount of support given and rather increasing it day by day. A better explanation to understand this so called support is that this support pushes a member of the group to keep on going no matter what happens and helps him/her to become successful in everything they do. 

Two parents join different styles of life together and take care of a group of children that will live with them for a long time. This care given by the parents is not easy; is the most loving care ever given to somebody, is the care that includes many responsibilities like guiding your children through the right path so they can become someone in life and achieve their goals. Two parents do all they can for their children to have an amazing life and enjoy every moment of it, and when things become hard, parents are there to give these children all the support they need because what they want the least in the whole world is to see their children suffer. 

At the end, it could be said that this never ending love and the willingness to give it all for somebody that belongs to your group is what creates a real family.    

That Japanese Story

The three of us came to a portion of the road turning east along the Iwasaki mansion. In an alley that was not wide enough to accommodate two rickshaws, we were in little danger of being seen. Ishihara left Okada’s side and marched before us like a leader. I looked back once more, but the woman was no longer in sight.

We stayed at Ishihara’s until late that night. It might be said that we were forced to keep Ishihara’s company while he drank a great deal of saké and ate the flesh of the goose. Since Okada did not say anything to Ishihara about his trip abroad, I decided to take him to the back room at Ishihara’s house to discuss it right away. When we were at the back room, I started by telling him how surprised I was and how much I praised his determination. Okada stared at me and said: “There is something that had been disturbing my mind the whole time while eating the goose and staying at Ishihara’s house, it had been annoying me and I actually want to share it with you right now since I am leaving tomorrow early in the morning”. I was amazed about how Okada’s face, from being smiley, turned into a serious and worried one, but I replied: “There is something I had been thinking about the whole time during our walk through Muenzaka and Ike-no-hata as well, but I will tell you about it after you tell me about your thoughts”. I was about to tell Okada that the beautiful girl we saw in the middle of the slope, kind of caught my attention; until he replied: “Well, you remember that girl that we saw at the middle of the slope? She kept looking at us”. “Yes, and I actually think she was looking at you”. I said. Okada kept going: “When I first told you the story of how she and I met, there was more to it. We drank tea at her house and we exchanged thoughts, because she wanted to thank me for saving her birds. After that, every now and then when I see her, I get this feeling of being bewitched by her beauty and I feel like she is the treasure that I have to reach. Her heavenly appearance makes my heart palpitate. She is as enchanting as the wild geese that where at the northern end of the pond, near Fukuchi and Suezo’s houses, before I scared them with that piece of stone”. After Okada said this, I was not really going to tell him that I also felt something for that beauty, since I think that girl was waiting for him in the middle of the slope. “I think that girl was waiting for you, Okada, and she may still be there. You should go and talk to her before you leave”. I said, delightful by the description that he had just given me of that girl. “You really think she is still there?” Okada replied in a surprising manner. “Yes”, I told him.

After that conversation that we had I returned to Ishihara’s dining room to make him company over the night, but Okada never returned that day. I looked for him the next day, but I could not find him, so this meant that he was already gone. I took a walk through the same direction he always used to, to remember our friendship memories. When I got to Muenzaka and walked down the slope, I found Okada and Otama together, which I got to knew her that same day when Okada called me to tell me what had happened. Okada had decided to stay with Otama and get graduated at the university, which make her happy, since she told us that she was under control of a usurer and Okada was like her hero, but that is another story that is out of my present narrative.                                                                                                                                     Okada and Otama lived happily together in a house Okada bought at Ike-no-hata, since Otama wanted to be as close as possible to her father. I am glad all of this happened to them, since Okada became like kind of my best friend. Me? I flied out of the country and went to Germany with professor Baelz, since Okada had told him about me and he needed some help with his project.           

Now that I have written this, I have counted on my fingers and discovered that thirty-five years have passed since then. Thanks to Okada’s decision to stay, I became very important all over the world. This is the story that is to it, and I feel like I should end it right away, so even though I did not get Otama to be my lover, I am now living happily with a German woman and I have had a splendid life, just as Okada has had too.    

There is no such thing as a neutral question

There is no such thing as a neutral question

            Knowledge as defined by Plato is a “justified, true belief.” Knowledge can also be defined as facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education. Taking both of these definitions into account, knowledge can be any claim that one can come up with, as long as one supports it with convincing evidence, and knowledge can be bias based on the place where one is raised. There is no way that a question can’t be neutral if knowledge itself is neutral. Two specific areas of knowledge that shape the character and personality of an individual are ethics and history. Ethics is the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles and determines what is right and what is wrong. History is the branch of knowledge that deals with past events, especially in connection with the human race. Ethics vary depending on the culture or group of people that one is addressing/depending on the society where one lives in, and history varies in perspective and content because of how bias it is and the almost endless evidence that can be found for one specific thing. These two areas of knowledge raise a lot of neutral questions because of the absence of decided views, expression and/or strong feelings.   

Plato developed the Law of Moral Neutrality in which he stated that “no definition of moral terms or analysis of moral reasoning shall favor one set of moral principles or ideals over another, nor one answer to a moral question over another.” By saying this, Plato is explaining how the definition of ethics must be neutral because no set of rules for what is right and what is wrong should favor a certain group or answer to a moral question, because there are so many different cultures around the world, that all answers about what is right and what is wrong, could be denied by a specific group. This is known by the term of moral-ethical neutrality, in which no answer to ethics is right but every answer is neutral. 

Culture can be defined as the outlook, attitudes, values, goals, and practices shared by a group, organization, or society. Each culture has their own cultural norms in which it is stated what should be seen as right and what should be seen as wrong. Franz Boas wrote the ethical theory of cultural relativism in which he explains how there is no singular truth on which to base ethical or moral behavior, because our interpretations of truths are influenced by our own culture. So, according to this theory, each person that belongs to a different culture will consider an event/action moral, based on their cultural religion, cultural views, and cultural ideals. Therefore, culture and ethics intersect because what is moral to a certain group could be considered as immoral by a group from a different culture. Ethics changes depending on the region and country where a person comes from and is raised. 

Out of ethics many neutral questions arise because people start questioning what should be considered right and what should be considered wrong. People in the United States, a very international country that is constantly intervening in the issues of other countries for example, want to define international ethical rules so that issues like terrorism stop. The problem is that ethics is so neutral that even people in the United States start to question their own “ethical code” if there is one. The United States is currently in the fight against Isis, Al Qaeda and all the terrorist groups around the world, but is it ethical that the United States itself has used terrorism? It has been confirmed by the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan in a declaration to justify their actions that the so called “enhanced interrogation” has been used and it has been effective. “Enhanced interrogation” is the use of terrorist techniques in certain persons by the U.S. government to find relevant information. Brennan stated that: “Our review indicates that interrogations of detainees on whom EITs were used, did produce intelligence that helped thwart attack plans, capture terrorists, and save lives.” This issue raised the question of terrorism being bad or good in this situation? According to some people it is right because as the philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli stated “the ends justify the means.” In this case terrorist attacks were prevented and terrorism was reduced to save and assure the security of many people around the world. So, because this was for the good of the majority the supposed ethical code that the U.S. had was changed and the use of terrorist techniques were approved by most U.S. citizens. Therefore, ethics can change depending on the situation and even one’s own ethical code can be questioned when it comes to saving lives, making the ethics of terrorism and many others, neutral questions. 

On the other side, there is the theory of universalism supported by many philosophers from the time of Plato until the current time; this theory sets a universal ethical code for the world and gives answers to those who question something being right or wrong. The United Nations (U.N.) is an organization that supports this universalism theory and has universal rules. According to the U.N. in the Geneva Conventions agreement, the use of “violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture” (Article 3:1(a)) should be banned. So, according to the U.N. the U.S. government violated the law and they should be punished for it. In the article 5 of the U.N., in the universal declaration of human rights, it is stated that “No one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” There are many organizations like the U.N. that have set a universal ethical code that applies to everybody and therefore there should not be any arousal of neutral questions in ethics.   

The word of history itself can be separated into two different words “his” and “story”. The word is self-explanatory in stating how history is written by a person who has seen the event that happened or has enough information to write about it. Winston Churchill once said that “history will be kind to me, for I intend to write it”; he meant that history will agree with the historian as long as the historian makes it convincing enough for it to be accepted by others. History can be affected by the emotions of the historian and the reasoning of him/her as well. Historians have to be smart enough to understand the history so that they can transmit a clear message, but their history can be influenced by how they feel about certain event. For example, a soldier from the First World War from Germany would disagree in his story that Germany was the cause of the First World War, whereas a soldier of the U.S. from WW1 would state that Germany caused the war, this because during that time that was the view that each had of each other. 

In actuality, historians have an exhaustless reservoir of material about most people who lived on earth, and this leaves historians with no option than to choose a source that they are confident with and select content information for their books. History is chosen by a historian’s value system and the philosophy of life. All of these, make history biased because the person who writes it is inculcating his/her values in the information and might even change some information to make it more convincing. Due to how bias history is, many neutral questions arise from this area of knowledge such as the question of evolution. Since we were not alive when humans were created, we must imagine what really happened and how it happened. Charles Darwin explained evolution as an emergence of Homo sapiens out of a series of lower primate groups in which species fought for survival and then developed into the human race. On the other side, Buettner-Janush has defined evolution in actuality, as a change in genetic, morphological differentiation and a progressive diversification. He says that the changes are through mutation, adaptation and natural selection. Both theories are very credible but no one will ever know which theory is true and what is the definite answer to the race of human beings. Religions state that different gods or a certain god created everything in Earth and they created human beings as well and that is how we exist. We don’t know what really happened and we try to use our imagination to believe many of these historians but the question of our own existence still remains neutral. History consists of a value of neutral-facts. 

Many historians claim that there are definite answers to history and that it should not be questioned. Some give examples as the knowledge of the dates of the World Wars and the cause of these wars as well. There is no doubt of these dates and there is no doubt either that the Second World War was caused by the invasion of Germany into Poland. These events have been proven by testimonies given from former soldiers, by video recordings and many other methods. The evidence is there and is clear and therefore history has definite answers in certain topics. 

In conclusion, both ways of knowledge, history and ethics, are influenced by one’s emotion, reason and imagination and raise a lot of neutral questions because knowledge itself is neutral. Knowledge of a certain culture has been questioned by another culture and this will always be the same way because no one is willing to give up their own culture to form a universal culture with a universal history and ethical code. History and ethics vary from place to place and from culture to culture.