Ho-Ho, Lingchi and Gestalt

in hive-182600 •  3 years ago  (edited)

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Priscilla Du Preez

Myth Vs. Science

One myth says, all concepts are universal; and another myth says, no concepts are universal. But science says, there's a little bit of both: some concepts are universal and accessible to everyone, while others are not. Some thoughts are determined by particular languages, while other thoughts are language-independent.

Concept of Bleeding from a Thousand Cuts

"Lingchi" is a form of punishment in ancient China wherein the criminal is inflicted with multiple cuts on the body until the person bled to death. In our time, the equivalent term, death by a thousand cuts (or bleeding from a thousand cuts), is used to describe a situation wherein somebody has been inflicted with a number of physical, mental, financial or political pains, and the suffering comes from the all the pains added together.

It's a concept useful in articulating certain situations of pain in life, thanks to the artistic torture in the mid-to-late years of Imperial China. If not for the medieval pain, we wouldn't have this concept. :)

Concept of Gestalt Therapy (to Remedy the Thousand Cuts)

Gestalt Therapy (not identical to Gestalt psychology; the two are merely linked peripherally) is probably the answer to the thousand cuts. Gestalt Therapy emphasizes on a multi-systemic approach: it focused on the present; it focused on the interpersonal relationships; it focused on the environment and the social contexts; it focused on perception and meaning-making processes through which experience forms.

Linking the Problem to the Solution

One may link the problem, the thousand cuts, to the remedy, the Gestalt Therapy (or something conceptually similar) via Hebbian Learning (theory best summarized as brain "cells that fire together wire together").

Conclusion

In rarified life situations, one may at times be even deprived of a language to tell one's own story. One may lack the knowledge: one may lack the tools and concepts necessary to diagnose the problem; one may not know where to find the remedy. Or one may stumble upon something, unexpectedly, and then exclaim, "Ho-ho!", at long last.


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