What Can We Learn from East Asian Stories?
Most people want respect. While particular ideals vary by culture, the underlying thread of humanity is that (almost) everyone wants to be liked. Preachers, parents and peers all cultivate certain behaviour through combinations of praise and condemnation. Paying close attention, children learn how to gain wider approval.
Every single culture tells stories about idealised women - whether that’s the Virgin Mary for Catholics, Sita for Hindus, or Aisha for Muslims. All three are glorified as paragons, which everyone else seeks to emulate.
In communities where these women are widely revered, others generally follow suit. If everyone else seems on board, one may be reluctant to deviate and risk social ostracism. This sustains a collective action problem, inhibiting dissent. Mass compliance may also motivate unquestioned acceptance. Back in the 1950s, Irish Catholics might feel deep shame and self-loathing about non-marital sexuality.
To understand humanity, we need to study how military conquest, state institutions, economic interest groups and story-telling all reinforced particular ideals.
Who were the paragons of virtue?
What kind of men and women were acclaimed?
Why did that vary - over time and across geographies?
How was this shaped by state institutions and stories of morality?
