Advice from Egypt

Taking Hints from other Cultures

Let not your heart be puffed-up because of your knowledge; be not confident because you are a wise man. Take counsel with the ignorant as well as the wise. The full limits of skill cannot be attained, and there is no skilled man equipped to his full advantage. Good speech is more hidden than the emerald, but it may be found with maidservants at the grindstones. …

If you are a leader commanding the affairs of the multitude, seek out for yourself every beneficial deed, until it may be that your own affairs are without wrong. Justice is great, and its appropriateness is lasing; it has been disturbed since the time of him who made it, whereas there is punishment for him who passes over its laws. It is the right path before him who knows nothing. Wrongdoing has never brought its undertaking into port. It may be that it is fraud that gains riches, but the strength of justice is that it lasts. … [transcribed from Western Civilization Volume I: To 1715 by Jackson J. Spielvogel, 2003]

Aside from sounding like something off of a Wise or Otherwise card, this excerpt of advice given by Egyptian Vizier Ptah-hotep to his son comes across as being rather timeless. Much of it is solid teaching.

Before I get going, let me put forth a disclaimer: I am not about to advocate the cultural relativism that pervades postmodern thought. I am simply warning against a reaction that goes too far in the other direction.

We know what postmoderns are typically like.

The idiot who praises with enthusiastic tone
All centuries but this and every country but his own.

Nevertheless, being nationalistic to the point of refusing to accept the possibility of the wisdom of other culture’s ideas — well, that’s not kosher either. Other cultures, just because they do not think like us or have the same religion as us, does not mean we can learn from them — or even that we should not desire to learn from them.

For example, consider this passage:

I swear by the time, / Most surely man is in loss, / Except those who believe and do good, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience.

Not too terrible. Missing key information, but not extremely awful.

What do you say when I tell you that the above was an extract from the Koran? Not so good? Yes, the Koran is full of lies concerning the nature of God (70% of its content at least from what I can see), proper behavior (Jihad, anyone?), and who knows what else. But does that mean we should shrink in horror from every word that Mohammad dictated to his literate companions? I would say no, not because Mohammad was particularly wise and amazing, but because it would be difficult to create a truly and obviously terrible religious text — and have it followed by millions of people. (Sure, some of the teachings of the Koran/Qu’ran are terrible, but the whole thing is written agreeably enough. Some of the arguments even make sense initially, even if they are based on flawed premises.)

A couple things I’ve learned:

• There are a lot of really whack religious beliefs out there

• Every major religion has at least some common sense in it here and there (which is why we have to learn how to discern)

Maybe the best course of action when it comes to discussing other religions is to, as the English Proverb says,

Use soft words and hard arguments.

But it isn’t just religion I’m talking about. There is more to learn from the general wisdom of other peoples. The source of this wisdom (good or bad) can range from Plato’s writings to wise sayings from the Orient to the philosophical reflections of Arabians from the Middle Ages.

Then there’s always the argument that it is best to know which tunes the devil is playing. But that is another story.

I’m not quite sure where I want to land. Perhaps this tidbit from Master Kong is as good a place as any:

Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star. – Confucius