I was reading this post over at RIUVA and was thinking how unscientific it was compared to many of tj_han’s posts in the past. Yes, I know it was done by this new guy called G-Man but perhaps he should try to be like his boss?
First and foremost, human logic is usually inaccurate when it comes to more complex and accurate deductions. For example when humans used human logic purely in the past, everyone thought the world was flat. Human logic is unable to reveal the truth in anything and people who indulge in logic usually only satisfy themselves. And if you tried to preach the world is round, you would be rounded up and EXECUTED.
Things are not so bad nowadays. For example, if you go around preaching Otaku culture owns pop culture anytime (like for example openly saying “HIRANO AYA OWNS AND AVRIL LAVIGNE IS F*CKING DUMB”), the most that society does nowadays is ostracise you and not engage in criminal execution. But the fact remains that using your own logic will not lead you to the truth.
However, most people would rather indulge in logic because it is fact that the truth hurts. Logic dictates “anime is cartoon porn” but if you experience some eroge adaptions like Kanon or AIR, you’ll see how much more complex and beautiful eroge is than being mere porn games or animation. This is why experience, or theory, is superior to human logic anytime in most situations.
This is the fallacy of the post itself and some of the comments made on the blogpost such as this one:
“A true loser then allows his self worth and self-esteem to be measured by other people. He is held hostage by perceptions of others that can never be satisfied since those very same perceptions are means by which they keep others lower on the totem pole vis a vis themselves. If you meet one criteria, another will simply be invented. Look yourself in the mirror. Are you happy with what you see? If not work to improve yourself in a way that you feel is best. Hold your head high. You are not an “otaku”, a “nerd”, a “loser” or whatever any one else decides to label you. You are you and if you are happy with being you then the labels everyone else tries to pin on you becomes nothing more than hollow echoes.”
Lets examine this comment using sociological theory.
One sociological theory dictates that the reason a deviant (in this case, Otaku or cosplayers) deviate is because he or she derives more utlity from the deviation compared to conforming.
Utliity is a general term used in social sciences to indicate a reward that a particular social group receives when it behaves in a certain manner.
This sociological model also dicates that when an individual in society conforms, he or she receives a formal or informal societal incentive. However, when an individual deviates, he or she receives a formal or informal societal sanction. This system exists to prevent deviant behaviour is perceived as very harmful by the authorities to society (formal sanctions) or perceived to be harmful to society in general (informal sanctions).
Formal rewards and sanctions are enforced by the law. For example in Singapore, the formal incentive for studying hard in school is heavily subsidised rates for further education. A formal sanction would be a fine imposed on the populace for littering (yeah, I know littering fines are infamous in Singapore).
Informal rewards and sanctions are not enforced by the law, and thus can actually be more effective since they can’t be “broken” so called. For example, you will receive an informal sanction in the form of a stare on the train when you dig your nose. You will also generally be praised and respected if you declare yourself an avid runner, since this is recognised to bring an overall positive effect on society.
Otakus and cosplayers generally receive a f*cking a lot of informal sanctions if they try to talk about their hobbies in public. The reason is basically because most people think cartoons and comics and dressing up as your favourite characters are an escapist waste of time and thus is harmful to society (I personally duno wad’s so great about cosplay). There are no formal sanctions on Otaku since it isn’t officially proven that this our hobby is a waste of time, and the fact is that it isn’t.
So coming back to the comment, the labels that “normal” people pin on you are very powerful informal sanctions. They are enough to make many think twice about becoming Otaku. Even if you “look yourself in the mirror and change your appearance”, if you continue to try and talk too much about your hobby in public, the informal sanctions will keep flowing in and you might eventually break and think you are a loser.
The simplest method to evade these sanctions is not to reveal too much of yourself initially and subsequently when it comes to social situations, since it is only sociable to impose informal sanctions and rewards throughout a conversation. Otherwise, it would be quite difficult for a conversation to exist in the first place.
This brings me to the flaw of informal sanctions. Because they are not yet evaluated by the authorities, you should think twice before conforming to an informal sanction. I personally feel that it is sad that many people in Singapore will never get to experience the greatness of Kanon or Suzumiya Haruhi due to these sanctions.
So why do Otaku continue being Otaku? Obviously because the utility derived from engaging in such a hobby far exceeds the possible informal sanctions that can be imposed. And when the older technophobe generation fades from this dimension and loses their conservative hold on the internet-faring younger generation, I do hope that such sanctions will be greatly reduced for the sake of a better world.
11 comments
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April 21, 2008 at 11:58 pm
tj han
I wish I could write like how I used to. No time lately
April 22, 2008 at 12:11 am
Michael
Good post.
Simply put, as long as the rewards outweigh the risks (perceived or real), people will dare.
April 22, 2008 at 1:04 am
The Animanachronism
I realise this is tangential, but it’s a bit of a bugbear of mine: medieval people didn’t go around thinking that the world is flat. The Greeks discarded the idea in the 4th century BC (or BCE if you prefer).
More to the point of your post, yes, labels are startlingly important. Though you should probably label me a heretic since I’m unconvinced of the merits of Kanon and Suzumiya Haruhi.
April 22, 2008 at 2:06 am
IcyStorm
Awesome post; it’s the first editorial post I’ve read in its entirety for quite a while.
I’m glad you explained those terms such as “utility.” It helps when I haven’t studied sociology.
April 22, 2008 at 2:08 am
Josh
I’m wondering if you’re confusing the terms “logic” and “common sense” (for the lack of a better word) as logic has indeed allowed us to discover things – including the fact that the earth is round (with help of a few observations, but we finally discovered it via human deductions ie logic).
“Common sense” on the other hand is a set of often commonly held beliefs which may or may not be right and may or may not be grounded in logic.
Heck, people make assumptions all the time about what the results of introducing a stimulation to an individual, a group, or the economy would be which – on the face look reasonable – but have long since been shown not to be the case by various social sciences, and one would realize this if one actually thought things through instead of coming to a fast conclusion.
Having said that, I think the part of the article dealing with sociological theory is actually pretty well written and thought out.
April 22, 2008 at 3:49 am
TheBigN
I think informal sanctions are a lot of the reason that it seems that many otaku strongly worry about how anime culture is seen in the mainstream society, and so tend to respond negatively to things that might place the culture against those informal sanctions, like with the response against Kanokon, for example.
April 22, 2008 at 6:05 am
dKiWi
@Josh:
I disagree. It was discovered the world was round through mathematical equations not human observation. NO NORMAL PERSON at that time can possibly fathom that the world is round because they were too scared of falling off. In fact, the authorities themselves were even more afraid of falling of and thus formal sanctions were imposed.
In fact presently, astronomy is built on equations rather than empirical observation. Yes, you use a telescope to observe. But without mathematics these observations provide such a tiny view of the universe that nothing interesting can be concluded.
The big problem is that you should NEVER, EVER try to use theory in normal conversation because it will piss people off. In a conversation, people like to keep talking at a shallower level. This is one of those 3D rules we have to abide to.
Like, I tried to explain to my sister and another friend that buying a CD and listening to it on the sound system allows you to derive overall a much higher utlity (as used in economics, not sociology) compared to listening purely to MP3s on iPods that most Singaporeans are doing. I was trying to highlight how most Singaporeans didn’t care about the amount of economic utility they were deriving and trying to lump my sister together with the “most Singaporeans” group, and she was mighty pissed off! Since she wants to think she’s special but theoretically she isn’t.
April 23, 2008 at 8:27 am
onix
I agree with dkiwi, using theory to explain sth totally based on human perception, it is just like applying logic to limit ourselves. Besides, Logic is sth constantly being developed in different region as well, that is why some normal asian logic could never be understood well in other culture.
However I still like most of the stuff you said in your article. As an otaku, I simply get annoyed by people who doesn’t watch cartoon/anime at all simply because it has a different culture. I believe these people would still believe the flat earth theory if it wasn’t proven wrong. Because to them, accepting the difference or discovering new things won’t matter, life is all about clubbing(for westerners), karaoke(for asians). And let’s admit it it is lame, espeically when people put “socializing” as an excuse.
April 24, 2008 at 12:26 am
sz3
However, I believe that logic is still the limiting factor within our human lives – on the base level at least.
To me, logic is the counter to the animal instinct that threatens to hand our lives over to the anarchy of chaos. True that logic is flawed and that it can be readily perverted through the manipulation of our outside environment; however, on a base level, logic serves us to “do the right thing” (relatively) and reigns our desires and passions in to a certain extent (that being the willpower and maturity of the person’s mind).
The “logic” that is being discussed here however, I would rather replace it with “willingness to accept” or “openmindedness” (if there’s such a word).
The society that we live in (Asian I believe) is mostly wary of stuff or events that seem deviant even though it may not be necessarily so. At times, this wariness is warranted in the case of violence, drugs and the like but in some cases, we simply reject an idea because sometimes, we simply refuse to accept it at all.
To the point where “anime is cartoon porn” section; it still boils down to whether you have an open mind or not right? Some are staunch believers in anti-nudity or whatever and will readily condemn eroge for the pr0n that it actually is. While others like people here are ready to see the storyline beyond the “pr0n”.
So it’s the same with things like informal sanctions; it is not really logic or the misuse of logic that creates these things – it is the people themselves that close their minds to such things and thus results in the creation of such sanctions.
Now you may say that logic creates the closed mind in this case but I would then disagree. I believe it is the fear and selfishness that creates these barriers which serve to alienate others.
We are humans and hate to be alone; we are communal creatures and we will find ways to stave off loneliness whether be it through friends, clubbing , internet, gaming, ONS, religions, etc. So as you can see it is not even the process of logic that guides us to create these barriers but rather, emotions and the need to feel happy. We naturally crave companionship and shun solitude to put it simply.
However, in closing, I believe that what we need is an open mind; to dig for the truth before passing judgment on whomever we meet or whatever we encounter. True that there are limits to how open a mind can be for certain subjects but that would be another topic altogether. The truth is having a relatively open mind and looking for the facts behind a person before applying an ounce of logic would clear up a heck load of misunderstandings and miscommunication that could happen between 2 normal people over time.
Easier said than done, of course.
April 24, 2008 at 7:44 am
dKiWi
Well said! However it ain’t happening in most asian countries, especially not freaking Singapore.
I always blame our close-mindedness on our conservative parents in the older generation (I’m 20 now) which is why I believe that once we take over, the Asian world will probably be a better place. I mean I’m educated, and I advocate radical thought. From the blogosphere, there appears to be many asians that are increasingly open minded.
And HELL NO it wasn’t easy to come to this stage! To break out of the close-minded mindset my parents had imposed on me! It took 1 year 10 months it that bloody hell-hole of an armed force to eject my brain. I felt there was something inherently wrong with how we soldiers behaved when placed under incredible amounts of stress and duress, and have held onto this belief instead of blindly conforming. Sure, I can’t achieve anything higher than rank of Corporal with this mentality, but it has done me hell of a lot of good in other areas of life.
When more people take the internet media more seriously after the older generation is gone, the world will change so damn freaking fast you’ll have to sit down wonder what the f*ck happened. Imagine the day they declare that the local newspaper is shutting down and we have journalist-bloggers or something like that.
April 24, 2008 at 1:43 pm
sz3
Hehe.. Won’t envy that day though.. Humans tend to be influenced pretty easily and though having an open mind is good, the ability to filter and question said information (*especially* from the internet) is still critically lacking in some aspects of our human society.
So in a sense, if journalist bloggers somehow take over the internet or something, we still cannot discount the fact that stuff can be doctored and edited at will on the net. Combine that with the fact of relative anonymity (at least for now) that the net provides, it may actually have an adverse effect on our world and society that we may know today.
True that the world will change extremely quickly – but in which direction? =)