Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen The Power to Resist Rumors

Chapter Thirteen The Power to Resist Rumors 1 Some of the readers of my previous article told me that you have explained so seriously the "curved" way of thinking of the new governor of Nagano Prefecture, but as a writer (compared with writing novels, the governor has more When I was active for a while, I once spread rumors about you in conversations and published them in a book.People may not be so optimistic that gossip and gossip, these things that often happen among children, probably will disappear when they grow up.People in the press that I have a lot of respect for gossip or tell tales about me all the time, and I don't take that as criticism in any way.

One of the gossips written in the book the reader mentioned was that I didn't want to meet the editor of a small publishing house, even though many of the more professional Japanese books on my shelf are published by that company. I am a novelist, not a researcher, so there is no such thing as the editor of that publishing house wanting to contact me for work.Buying the books you read and choosing a publishing house based on your years of experience is the most normal thing, and I invite everyone to do the same.As with citations, so do my choice of editors when I publish my work each year.Therefore, although this rumor is not true, it seems to be true.A characteristic of gossip is that it appears to be true.

Another gossip connects my winning the Nobel Prize with my wife and I often attending banquets at the Swedish embassy for quite a while. In my house, there is light who is grown up in age but cannot leave him alone in the house.When I went to Stockholm to attend the Nobel Prize Winning Ceremony, I also took light with me.Because his legs and feet were not good, I supported him from the side.Regarding all of this, in a big newspaper that I am very familiar with, there appeared "This is making a fuss about disabled children" and "Is this kind of ceremony with children still called an award ceremony?" Understand the gossip.

That's just because I couldn't leave my son at home alone and go away with my wife.My wife and I talked about it later, and it felt so right to go with the light.For things like award ceremonies, the bigger the award, the more sad things you don't want to see.But as long as we hear this piece of music written by Guang, we can't help but express our gratitude to Alfred Nobel for his determination a hundred years ago. This piece of music was written when Hikari had to wait for us alone in a hotel room that bulged out like a pavilion facing the mouth of the Balt Sea. After accepting the Nobel Prize, my wife and I attended an internal banquet held by the Swedish embassy to express our gratitude for the award. Since then, no two of us have ever been to the embassy, ​​let alone me attending the banquet alone.Those notorious rumors in English that I often go to foreign embassies are based on such "facts".

Why are there such rumors?This has nothing to do with factual basis.Because frivolity is the driving force behind rumors, and rumors are such a thing. 2 Because I hope that everyone can have a relatively strong resistance to rumors.We can work hard in two ways. First of all, after hearing a rumor, before believing it, if it is said by people around you, then ask more people for their opinions to confirm whether it is true.If it is published in a newspaper, if you want to pay attention to one of the rumors, you can read more "information" from various newspapers that echoes, is contrary to this, and is neutral. This approach is very common in libraries. easy to do.

The more unbelievable and suspicious the rumor is, the more enthusiastically some people will play it up and spread it, and take pleasure in it.I have always been extremely indifferent to such people, even very famous ones. We can also make another effort, that is, when we hear unfounded rumors, we can resist the spread of rumors within the scope of our lives, such as in game venues, classrooms, and even at home.Rumors seem like everyone is willing to listen to them, and they are contagious, but in fact, as long as there are people who seriously resist them, they will be eliminated as soon as they come out of the cage.

Having said that, in fact, small rumors, when developed to a certain extent, will have a dangerous power.How great is this power?You have studied the history of the world, and there are practical examples of how powerful gossip can be, and it is very convincing.For rumors that become a kind of violence and bring misfortune to mankind, if honest people have the courage to point out that they are not true from the beginning, then rumors can be eliminated before they are spread. 3 You may have heard the story that happened in the ancient city of Orleans, France.Orléans was the city liberated from the English Manpower by Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years War between England and France starting in the fourteenth century. In 1969, an incredible rumor spread in this city.It is said that there are six women's fashion stores in the city. As soon as young girls enter the fitting room, they will be drugged and taken away, and then trafficked to foreign places where women are forced to do painful work.In fact, there was not even a report of a young girl missing from the police, but this rumor spread not only in this city, but also in the whole country.

How did such baseless rumors arise and spread?What are the social and historical origins of these rumors?Scholars with a sense of social responsibility launched a survey, and a research report was written on behalf of sociologist Edward Moran. Moran learned that one of the things to figure out was that the women's fashion houses in Orleans were run by Jews.Shopkeepers even sought police protection because they felt their lives were threatened.People all over Europe know how Nazi Germany tortured and killed a large number of Jews, but in today's era, racial differences and prejudices that should be reflected on are still left.Such deep historical roots can be found behind the gossip.In this way, Moran analyzed the formation, spread and terror of rumors.

In the report, Moran wrote about the fact that in the school where female students in Orleans go to school, some female teachers were influenced by rumors and played a role in fueling the spread of rumors.According to reports, some female teachers did tell good students not to go to women's clothing stores run by Jews. 4 The reason why I hope that everyone can be more resistant to rumors is that good students can take action to confirm this rumor, can seriously discuss with the female teachers who are bewitched by these rumors, and spread the rumors. The conclusion that the story was in fact non-existent was communicated to the family when they returned home.In this way, the atmosphere of the city will be transformed towards the healthy direction created by oneself.I hope that in such specific actions, young people can exert their "resilience and fighting spirit".

Does the social and historical prejudice against the Jewish people not exist in Japan?Isn't this what happened in foreign countries?Maybe someone will say so.But others say it's not like that.In the window of a big bookstore, there are always best-selling covers side by side.When my students who teach abroad come to Tokyo, the first thing that surprises them is that there are books written by Japanese that are full of prejudice against Jews in the window. Is it just because Japanese people tend to be curious about things they don't know?I do not think so.The world we live in is threatened by great evil forces, and of course people are extremely sensitive to such "information".Today, the various artifacts created by civilization protect our society.On the contrary, nuclear weapons, the destruction of the ozone layer, these products of our civilization have also put us in danger.How much our forefathers suffered in the struggle against a disease that has long been impoverished, but is now conquered by mankind!Do you know the great hardships that Japanese medical workers have put in to fight against the plague not long ago?Take the eradication of cholera as an example. Nearly two hundred years ago, when our country first began to learn medicine from the Netherlands, the young people really worked hard in Osaka.

Human beings are like this, once they figure out what is the thing that has an evil effect on human beings, they can fight against it, and there are people who fight against it bravely.However, when one does not know what it is, it is often easy to imagine it, and in the fantasy, it turns into a false image of something that produces evil effects. Throughout European history, the Jews were victims of this delusion.There were great persecutions against the Jews in both ancient Russia and Eastern Europe.It is not so long ago that the persecution became a state policy, killing millions of Jews in the gas chambers, in Nazi Germany only sixty years ago. What I want to recommend to you to read is what kind of pain the Jews experienced and how the Holocaust was seen and recorded from the eyes of boys and girls.My father said that children have children's tactics. This is a very powerful example to verify my father's words.The records of the children who witnessed the extermination of the Jews are still preserved.The most famous of these is.Those who have read this book will never forget the fate of the lovely and lively Jewish girl Anne Frank, and how Jews were massacred in Germany during World War II and the countries under the German sphere of influence. However, that big publishing house that published in Japan, in its magazine, published a report a few years ago that "there is no gas chamber for a large number of tournament Jews." The publishing house was criticized at home and abroad, and the criticism was extremely severe, and it was finally cancelled.Erasing the great tragedy experienced by the Jews means that the frightening evil really comes from the Jewish side, and it means that the martyrs who joined this rumor have to admit to foreign friends that this attitude also exists in Japan. I find it inconceivable that boys and girls who have never read it become editors in that publishing house after they grow up?Or do you forget about everything when you grow up?If that's the case, wouldn't the books I read when I was a child be in vain!You must fight against this phenomenon, resist the society that makes the books you are reading now useless, and resist those rumors that you have not actually confirmed, which is part of this struggle.