Sitting in the computer lab

Hi guys,

So here I am, sitting in the computer lab, again, just like I did when first arrived in Taiwan and didn't have a computer. I'm looking up a few chengyu, or four word idioms on the internet, but what I really wanted to do was let everyone know that I read Confucius's "On the Rectification of Names" today in class. It's actually called the "Great Learning," but it contains probably one of his most famous ideas. In a nutshell, it means to deal with your own problems before you worry about interfering with other people. He outlines a symmetrical path of governing, if you will, from managing your own thoughts and state of mind to the affairs of state and governance. It's presented as advice to kings, to whom he suggested that this chain of logic and its sequence was essential to achieving success as a ruler.

Simply put,

First fix yourself,

Then take care of your family,

Then help your community,

And only then is there any possibility of peace among and within nations.

That's 2500 year old philosophy.