Page 41 - The Irony Board

Into the Body

Pride lets you say what things mean
Differs by which way they’re seen
Without making fun of them,
But not that you’re one of them.

This observation derives its poignancy from another aspect of the
inner-outer judicial conflict: egoism. What used to be called a liberal
education brought the student, through exposure to multiple
historical viewpoints, to an appreciation of cultural relativism and
the practice of interpersonal tolerance. That expansion of
understanding, however, rarely went beyond the external world to
confront the nest of chameleons inside the student’s own head. As a
result, the intellect is affronted by any suggestion that its character,
too, may vary in the eyes of other beholders. If I see myself as a
coherent entity, and my feelings of self-worth are tied up in that
image, then anyone saying I can be seen differently has to be making
a joke in poor taste. Whether Gluckman is condemning pride utterly
or simply in its overweening version is unclear.

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