Tonystark545 @Tonystark545@qoto.org
Joined Oct 2020
Tonystark545
boosted
I feel like Japan has a healthier understanding of the "talent vs effort" dichotomy. Maybe.
Speaking to English speakers, I hear a lot of fatalistic attitudes about talent. A lot of eugenic style ideas that I imagine probably literally do stem from the (actually pretty historical, it existed long before fascism, long LONG before) eugenics movement. You know, the "if you weren't born with the genetics of Hercules himself and training from birth you'll get mogged forever you manlet" kind of mentality.
But thinking back to the ubiquitous outlet of ideas that is, well, common fiction, particularly in this case anime and Japanese games since they're the primary English translated cultural export (and thus, they're what I know), it seems quite popular for rivals, even friendly ones, to be of the "one is talented and the other had to work hard for their skills" variety.
Ryu and Ken are probably the most famous example to the anglophone weeb, or Vegeta and Goku, or if you're younger, Naruto and Sasuke. IIRC, Little Witch Academia did it too.
But let's focus on my favourite example: Marisa and Reimu.
Reimu's power and obligation both stem from her bloodline. She's a Hakurei of Hakurei shrine, and thus the guardian is the gateway between Gensokyo and the "real" world. She has business relationships with powerful entities like Mima (Hakurei Shrine's kami) or Yukari (yokai of Boundaries and thus highly concerned with the shrine), powerful heirloom artifacts (such as her yin-yang orbs), and most of her displayed powers are invocations or channels of some kind, like her sealing wards.
By contrast, Marisa is, as her title says, an "Ordinary Magician." She is a regular, normal human, born in Gensokyo, which is basically like being a terrified villager who lives directly between Castles Frankenstein and Dracula. And yet despite this, Marisa refused to be constrained. She seemingly attached herself to Rinnosuke, a scholar, primarily to make herself literate and educated, and when her lust for magical power transcended what his books could offer, she started breaking into the Scarlet Devil Mansion to steal the magical books from Patchouli's library.
Marisa trespasses, steals, charms and hoodwinks her way to magical power. Either ZUN understands Hermes (and Hermetic magical study) remarkably well, or he just really likes blondes.
So next time you're worrying about having wasted time, missed chances, or most futile of all, worrying about "not having talent" for something - remember that isn't the end of the matter. Your mastery is but a matter of time, wisdom and dedication.
Speaking to English speakers, I hear a lot of fatalistic attitudes about talent. A lot of eugenic style ideas that I imagine probably literally do stem from the (actually pretty historical, it existed long before fascism, long LONG before) eugenics movement. You know, the "if you weren't born with the genetics of Hercules himself and training from birth you'll get mogged forever you manlet" kind of mentality.
But thinking back to the ubiquitous outlet of ideas that is, well, common fiction, particularly in this case anime and Japanese games since they're the primary English translated cultural export (and thus, they're what I know), it seems quite popular for rivals, even friendly ones, to be of the "one is talented and the other had to work hard for their skills" variety.
Ryu and Ken are probably the most famous example to the anglophone weeb, or Vegeta and Goku, or if you're younger, Naruto and Sasuke. IIRC, Little Witch Academia did it too.
But let's focus on my favourite example: Marisa and Reimu.
Reimu's power and obligation both stem from her bloodline. She's a Hakurei of Hakurei shrine, and thus the guardian is the gateway between Gensokyo and the "real" world. She has business relationships with powerful entities like Mima (Hakurei Shrine's kami) or Yukari (yokai of Boundaries and thus highly concerned with the shrine), powerful heirloom artifacts (such as her yin-yang orbs), and most of her displayed powers are invocations or channels of some kind, like her sealing wards.
By contrast, Marisa is, as her title says, an "Ordinary Magician." She is a regular, normal human, born in Gensokyo, which is basically like being a terrified villager who lives directly between Castles Frankenstein and Dracula. And yet despite this, Marisa refused to be constrained. She seemingly attached herself to Rinnosuke, a scholar, primarily to make herself literate and educated, and when her lust for magical power transcended what his books could offer, she started breaking into the Scarlet Devil Mansion to steal the magical books from Patchouli's library.
Marisa trespasses, steals, charms and hoodwinks her way to magical power. Either ZUN understands Hermes (and Hermetic magical study) remarkably well, or he just really likes blondes.
So next time you're worrying about having wasted time, missed chances, or most futile of all, worrying about "not having talent" for something - remember that isn't the end of the matter. Your mastery is but a matter of time, wisdom and dedication.
Tonystark545
boosted
Why does the recovery of the US economy affect the rest of us?
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Why does the US economy matter? | Start Here
Joined Oct 2020
