The other thing I find fascinating that
so few people seem to pay conscious attention to is context. What
something means, whether it is an image, a statement, a piece of
clothing or a tool relies almost entirely on the context in which it
is presented.
For example, if you jam your middle
finger in a door, and the doctor asks you to show it to her, this is
part of a medical procedure and means “is it supposed to be turning
green, doctor?”
If, however, you are an English
(British?) long-bowman retreating across France just before the
Battle of
Agincourt, showing that middle finger to a Frenchman means “you
haven't caught me, and I can still shoot back”.
Do it on the freeway, however, and it
takes an entirely different tone.
And so many things are like this. Why
is the nunchaku a
weapon taught in any martial arts school? It is widely considered
(as I understand it) to be mediocre at best in combat. But, in the
context of Japanese-occupied Okinawa,
it was something that anyone could carry and use to defend themselves
with. Why was this important? Because the Japanese passed a law
that said only Japanese persons could carry weapons. The nunchaku
were actually flails intended for use as agricultural tools, and you
really have a hard time taking tools away from people who are just
trying to farm. It's one reason that the quarterstaff was so big in
Europe for so long. You try denying your peasants or serfs the right
to carry... a stick.
I think Teddy Roosevelt would have done
just fine in Okinawa, come to think of it.
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