If You Know It’s Right, It’s Probably Wrong

Earlier today I was online reading Cocorioko, a Sierra Leone newspaper published in Somerset, New Jersey, when I spotted Old Man Zubah and his wise words: When your black chicken gets lost, you start searching for it before darkness falls.

I really like this piece of advice, not for its brilliance, but for its common sense. Now, I just returned to Nanchang from a week-long conference in Hong Kong and Macau, and I got to thinking quite a bit about common sense and what it actually means. Common sense tells us, for example, that driving like a maniac is not only dangerous for the driver and those in his car, but also for others on the road. And if everyone drives like a maniac, traffic becomes worse than it would be if everyone drove a bit slower and actually paid attention to red lights and stop signs. The awesome power of this sense, which by definition is held by the majority of people (hence the adjective ‘common’), seems to be missing on the roads of Nanchang. Why? What can it be? Is it a true lack of common sense, or cultural habit, or simply a nation of drivers that learned how to steer on bicycles and think that weaving wildly and driving on curbs is the way it should be done? I can speak against the latter, as I have seen first hand how crazy driving infuriates everyone on the road and puts people in danger. Every taxi driver and local I've had the pleasure of speaking with has described Nanchang's traffic as 特别乱 (particularly chaotic) and harps on the relative comfort of driving in bigger, more 文明 cities. Why then, in a country and place where group is the foundation of society and harmony is its goal that you see such carelessness and disregard for others? Perhaps in the West, where we understand more deeply the concept of self and individualism, it’s easier to place yourself in someone else’s shoes. Thoughts?

I have been living in China for a quite a while now, and I feel that I’ve grown accustomed to most things here. However, some things are becoming progressively more difficult and confusing to understand. Old Man Alex says, “If you talk to anyone who says they understand China, turn away as fast as you can and don’t look back.”