{"id":1643,"date":"2020-09-27T01:20:41","date_gmt":"2020-09-27T01:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2021\/?page_id=1643"},"modified":"2020-10-16T21:21:40","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T21:21:40","slug":"llc5","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2021\/live-like-a-confucian-week\/llc5\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 5 – Diagnosing Microaggressions"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Day 5:<\/b>
Diagnosing Microaggressions<\/b><\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Live Like a Confucian<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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After completing the assigned exercise for today, click here<\/a> to access the prompt for tonight’s reflection<\/strong> and to submit your 1-2 paragraph journal entry.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Background<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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S<\/span><\/span>uppose someone treats one in an outrageous manner. Faced with this, a superior person will look within [literally, return to oneself], saying \u201cI must be lacking in benevolence and propriety, or else how could such a thing happen to me?\u201d When, looking within oneself, one finds they have been benevolent and proper, and yet this outrageous treatment continues, then the superior person will look within, saying, \u201cI must have failed to do my best for them.\u201d When, on looking within oneself, one finds they have done their best and yet this outrageous treatment continues, then the superior person will say, \u201cThis person does not know what they are doing. Such a person is no different from an animal. One cannot expect an animal to know better.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>

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\u2013\u00a0<\/span>Mengzi\u00a04B28<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mengzi\u2019s idea that we should learn not to immediately blame others, but instead to \u201clook within\u201d first makes great sense in light of modern psychological findings that individuals are generally much quicker to blame others than themselves when things go wrong. One aspect of this is now called the \u201cfundamental attribution error,\u201d according to which we tend to under-emphasize situational factors and over-emphasize personal character when explaining others\u2019 behavior, and do the opposite when explaining our own. Wikipedia<\/a> provides a nice example:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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A<\/span><\/span>s a simple example of the behavior which attribution error theory seeks to explain, consider the situation where Alice, a driver, is cut off in traffic by Bob. Alice attributes Bob’s behavior to his fundamental personality, e.g., he thinks only of himself, he is selfish, he is a jerk, he is an unskilled driver; she does not think it is situational, e.g., he is going to miss his flight, his wife is giving birth at the hospital, his daughter is convulsing at school. Alice might well make the opposite mistake and excuse herself by saying she was influenced by situational causes, e.g., I am late for my job interview, I must pick up my son for his dental appointment, rather than thinking she has a character flaw, e.g., I am such a jerk, I treat others in contempt, I am bad at driving.<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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As for the \u201clooking within\u201d itself, this is again a process of inner inspection of one\u2019s motives and the way they may have been manifested in action. Here, it is important to keep in mind that our inner feelings can reveal themselves even if we do not take overt actions. Mengzi says:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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S<\/span><\/span>uperior people regard the benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom that are based in their hearts as their nature. These are clearly manifest in their lives and their demeanor. They fill their torsos and extend to their four limbs. Though they say nothing, their four limbs express them.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>

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\u2013\u00a0<\/span>Mengzi\u00a07A21<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Even when saying nothing, one\u2019s \u201cfour limbs\u201d\u2014that is, one\u2019s posture, facial expressions, and so on\u2014can express one’s attitude.<\/p>

In short, experiencing some sort of discomfort or lack of attention can lead to, if not an inappropriate action, then perhaps a facial expression or other \u201cmicroaggression\u201d that helped to generate another person\u2019s problematic response. Confucians well understand the ways in which our dress and body language can encourage others\u2014often subconsciously\u2014to respond in positive or less positive ways, which is one of the reasons for their emphasis on ritual. Such a reaction then forms part of the \u201csituation\u201d to which the other is reacting, and so (partially) explains their reaction, rather than it simply being a result of under-developed character. It is crucial to note that the way in which one is contributing to the situation (via \u201cmicroaggression\u201d) is usually not intended or even conscious. Mengzi is suggesting that if we look carefully at our own motives, we may discover underlying factors that are affecting the outcome.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Today's Exercise<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Throughout the day today, choose three instances in which you interact with someone else. This could be in-person or virtually, with someone you know or with a stranger. Think about how the interactions go and reflect on how you were presenting yourself to the others and\u00a0 what your attitudes or expectations toward the others were. Insofar as the interactions go less than perfectly, ask yourself: (1) \u201chave I failed to feel appropriate care\/concern for this other person?\u201d and (2) \u201chave I done something (or failed to do something) to partially cause this person\u2019s problematic response?\u201d If things go really badly, could it be that the other person is focused on other issues and \u201cdoesn\u2019t know what they are doing,\u201d or are you really faced with someone whose moral character is poorly developed? (The fact that we too-often attribute others\u2019 failures to their character doesn\u2019t mean that others\u2019 character never<\/i> explains things.)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBack to Live Like a Confucian Week<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 5:Diagnosing Microaggressions Live Like a Confucian After completing the assigned exercise for today, click here to access the prompt for tonight’s reflection and to submit your 1-2 paragraph journal entry. Background Suppose someone treats one in an outrageous manner. Faced with this, a superior person will look within [literally, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":1546,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1643","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1643"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1940,"href":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1643\/revisions\/1940"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}