My Neighbour’s Dog Speaks Mandarin
A few weeks ago I passed my neighbour while heading out to grab some milk. She was leaning forward, talking to a dog on a leash. She spoke rapidly in mandarin, while the dog listened intently. The canine replied with two sharp little barks. They clearly indicated a message of “yes, I understand”.
I was amazed, caught off guard by this development. But why was I dumbstruck? Yes, it was a surprise to me, but certainly not to to the world’s 1 billion-plus mandarin speakers. It’s no surprise to them, that they speak their language to their dogs, and clarity is reached.
Many of us (English speakers) assume that dogs speak only our language – correct? After all, there is approximately 1.5 billion English speakers in the world, and we know that the entire world follows us. If you believe that, you may be afflicted with a malady known as Ethnocentrism.
Ethnocentrism is defined as “the view of things in which one’s own group is the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it." Many of us practice this daily, and we don’t even know it.
Examples of Ethnocentrism
- Major League Baseball (USA) refers to it’s championship round as the World Series. There happens to be some very polished baseball played in other parts of the world, like in the Dominican Republic and Japan. However, these guys are not allowed to qualify for the “World Series”.
- Much of the world worships the sport of football, in which the teams score by kicking a round ball into goal with their feet. Conversely, we Americans refer to our own gridiron sport as football. The irony is that the participants rarely use their feet.
- In many European schools ‘World Studies’ courses focus on the history of Europe and United States solely, while mostly ignoring other parts of the world.
- How about Donald Trump’s attacks on the Congressional women of colour? Let’s look at the definition again…“the view of things in which one’s own group is the center of everything…” Yup, I think Trump is definitely in that ballpark. He’s assuming that he and his supporters have the right to tell people to leave. He said, “they can leave if they don’t like it here”. You either side with him or leave the country. Your unalienable rights mean nothing to Donald Trump.
My Epiphany
Several years ago I moved to Sydney from Dallas, Texas. While enjoying a nice Aussie dinner one evening I participated in a lively political discussion with some locals. The subject was a Trade dispute, with good ole USA central to the debate, and little Australia the unlikely combatant. I cannot recall the details, just that I vigorously defended Uncle Sam, to a point where the person sitting opposite me was almost in tears.
She was quite flustered with my dogmatic defence of the American position, but inevitably broke down and gave up. She did sneak in a well articulated appeal, saying I should try to see the issue through the eyes of the Australians.
Any other day and I would have issued a vigorous defense of the Stars and Stripes, but on this day I froze. This time I did not have home field advantage, and something inside me clicked.
I began to listen to the alternative viewpoint, as others calmly presented a side that was foreign to me. To my surprise, that viewpoint had some merit. The lady had struck a nerve in this ole Texan.
The evening was a pivotal moment, as thereafter I gradually commenced a change in mind set. Some of my old American mates might say I became a ‘leftie’, but that’s not it. This mental transformation had nothing to do with politics. It had everything to do with watching and listening.
As I walked around my new homeland on the opposite side of the equator, I still saw MacDonalds, Burger King, and slowly squeezed Heinz ketchup on my french fries. However, a transition had commenced, as I began to view the world from a much broader scope. Previously my world view was largely shaped around my own personal experience. In the new persona I was observing the earth’s rotation with a different spin.
What Centric Are You?
Many people form belief systems that are reactive, sculpted by our own cultural environments, often mirroring the attitudes of the dominant personalities that surround them. It’s not until we mature and gain confidence in ourselves that we put stakes down in our own belief system. Watching and Listening can lead to self-defining choices:
- MIRROR
Ethnocentric attitudes typically mirror their environments. It’s easy and requires no proactive thoughts or actions. You do not have to change, and do not have to challenge established convention. You can rest easy in knowing that you are just stepping in line with your tribe.
2. ADAPT
Adjustments to our attitudinal status quo can be quite difficult. To adapt is not so much a 180 degree turn as a 90 degree shift. Instead of mirroring what we see around us, we may determine that some attitudes require fine tuning.
Former vice president Dick Cheney (under George W. Bush) famously toed the Republican Party Line with a vigorous ‘No’ stance to same sex marriage. Then the Vice President discovered that his own daughter was in a same sex relationship. When questioned, Cheney simply said that he personally is not for same sex marriage, but believed that states should decide the issue for their own jurisdictions. This enabled the Vice-President to adapt his position, without coming out totally against his daughter’s lifestyle choice.
3. CHANGE
Total change requires bucket-loads of courage. If you take a path that contradicts the culture of your tribe you can expect to pay some serious social costs. Count on being maligned and rejected by family and friends. The social cost means that very few people head down this unforgiving road.
I experienced a change moment one sunny afternoon in my early teen years. I was riding shotgun in the passenger seat of my uncle’s big Buick LeSabre. We drove by an aging black man who was calling out for money, and I issued a heinous shout, “look at that old n_____r.”
Normally uncle was full of retorts and witticisms, but in this case the car was filled with dead, cold silence. I could feel a pall of gloom in the air when he finally broke the ice. Calmly, but firmly he said that he did not want to ever hear me say that word in his presence again. He continued by saying, “what makes you think that you are better than that man? What do you know about him, what he has been through and why he is where he is?”
He was so right, and it was a good lesson for a young lad to learn at that impressionable age. Certainly I was faced with a choice of mirroring, adapting or changing one of my tribal beliefs. One of those choices would have gained me a spot in the starting lineup of Team Ethnocentric.
Many years later, and still several years after my Sydney epiphany, you would think I’m well clear of that team. You would think that by now, I have either adapted or changed any core beliefs that fall short of enlightened thought. I should be part of a new team of enlightened people.
I thought so, too. But then I heard a dog bark. I realised that there’s no room for smug in the school of life. We live, we learn and we keep on learning. Sometimes we reach mountain tops, but we can also head down to the valley, all in the same day.
Wherever you are, watch and listen to barking dogs. They speak different languages, eat a wide variety of foods, and sometimes march to the beat of a different drummer. Watch and listen to them and their humans. Lessons await.
