(304) Rationality of irrationality
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By Janet Shin
Humans are described in various ways. Homo sapiens may be the general and representative term for humans as a wise and thinking species, differentiated from others. There are many other terms to identify humans, such as homo faber which denotes humans in control of their fates and environment through the use of tools. One intriguing term is homo oracle, as named by Lim Chaewoo, a professor at the University of Brain Education, Korea, which implies that humans are born to practice divination. Among all creatures in the universe, only humans try to prognosticate. This should be distinguished from the instinct of other animals as it is a peculiar behavior using intuition instead of acquired knowledge.
Some may even want to associate it with gambling. But I argue that they must be separated. Divination is derived from irregularity and based on accidental chance. It was inevitable for humans to try divination in times of uncertainty and inconsistency. Gambling, on the contrary, is a distorted means of opportunism seeking for ways to profit by sometimes even deceiving others. It is closely related with avarice, one facet of human desire.
Since olden days, it was natural that people wanted to avoid misfortune and strike out in a lucky direction. There are many types of divination which have established certain formulas and calculations, but the most primitive way of foretelling the future is that of intuition. It was part of human culture and history to refer to the reading of divination in confronting matters of choosing either one or the other. The Oracle of Delphi is one example in Occidental culture. In the East, the primitive form of Zhouyi, the book of Changes, is a collection of divinational statements by sorcerers since ancient times.
If we research anthropological references, we may find plenty of records that many tribes around the globe played with shells, seeds and sticks. Some played just for fun as a game while others produced more meaningful social mechanism as time passed.
Then what other than aspects of divination have contributed to individual life as well as to the formation of society? On top of its function as relieving human anxiety by clearing uncertainty, it has also yielded social agreements in many conflicting situations.
The game rock-paper-scissors, for instance, is still commonly used across cultures and generations to reconcile disagreements, not just as a game. People occasionally come across conflict with others in ways that cannot otherwise be settled in a fair and equitable way. When they do so, they opt to play the game. A simple example would be when there is only one candy left but two children who wish to eat it. Since they can’t both eat it, they must decide on an impartial means of choosing who will get the candy. Rock-paper-scissors is considered a random and fair solution: since there is no artificial manipulation to the game, its outcome will and should be considered “impeccable,” and it will consequently be honored. Yet it is necessary to take note that it is not the game itself that makes the resolution perfect but its randomness. Furthermore, its results carry meaning as a result of the longstanding social agreement that its changeability is what entrusts the game its legitimacy as a resolver of conflict.
Rationality is often considered calculative. Divination, on the contrary, is free from human will. Of course there could always be a feasibility of intervening private interests and practitioners' skills to manipulate the results. Nonetheless it is still believed to be the most unbiased method of reaching mutual agreement.
While divination was believed to be a general way of relieving people's restlessness and reaching mutual agreement, it has been taught not to be used for malicious reasons and repeated purposes.
In our modern days with too much logic and reason, divination based on intuition and foreknowledge may continue to play a crucial role to crosscut entangled situations.
Are you interested in learning more about the
ancient Chinese teaching about the “Four Pillars
of Destiny” and oriental ways of fortunetelling or
fortunetellers? For further information, visit
Janet’s website at www.fourpillarskorea.com,
contact her at 010-5414-7461 or email janetshin@
hotmail.com. The writer is the author of
“Life’s Secrets.”