Making The Best Of It

My feng shui isn't right. I know it because others have told me so or, at least, implied that by their questions about it. Theirs is better. But it's my feng shui and I'm happy with it (whatever it is). From what I can learn quickly it somehow relates to my concept of my environment and how it fits into the world around it. Very Chinese – Taoist according to what I've read – but it has created an industry here. It's a twenty-first century fad and all the social climbers, those wishing to appear sophisticated have bought in. And there are advisers and furniture companies to help out. All it takes is money to present yourself as refined and worthy of the admiration of others.

Toward the end of the twentieth century, nouveau cuisine was all the rage. It was a great way for restaurants to charge more for giving you less. Dinner became a visual rather than a gustatory experience, and if you didn't find that satisfying is was clear that you weren't “in” and, if you(r kitchen staff) didn't serve those sparse, but beautiful dishes, you were not among the cognoscenti. You weren't among the initiated – the connoisseurs, the sophisticated. And those you thought were your friends would turn up their noses, and then look down them at you.

That's the drill. Someone, or some company, comes up with the latest thing and it becomes a fad (“the fashion” for those adhering to it) which defines you. There's no denying it. It's always been the case, although changes evolve more quickly than in the past. Publicity, advertising, and “the word” get around faster now. What was once one way is now the only way. At least for the wishful souls among us.

And that doesn't apply only to fashion. An aggressive advertising industry is bent on convincing us that we want whatever is “new” and “improved.” And if the message an packaging are appealing, we'll spend more even if that means that we get less. For some the buzzword s are “trans fat free” or “gluten free,” terms that are used liberally, even on products that never contained fat or gluten to begin with.

But the biggest nowadays is “artisanal.” I'm not quite sure what it means, but I know that at present it's the only thing that the discerning among us will consider; the only thing they'll buy is something that claims to be artisanal – even if there are no particular standards for such a claim. Even if the term is meaningless, it has acquired the patina of excellence that recommends it to anyone sophisticated and in “the know.” In fact, all those who buy into any of these examples of hokum consider themselves to be sophisticated.

Sophisticated. It's understood as a complimentary term. And the sophisticated are those who can more clearly define what is good than the rest of us. It should be noted though that the word derives from the Sophists, an ancient Greek group that espoused a philosophy favoring excellence and virtue, but one whose members were skilled in the art of rhetoric, and who could argue convincingly on either side of an issue.

That has become the meaning in our current usage. A skilled sophist has the ability to convince us of anything. Truth and belief in your arguments are not the issues. Perhaps this means that they understand both (or all) sides of the issues they address, and that's the view of those who believe themselves in this category.

But the sophisticated of our time are frequently the ones who want clothes like the king. They can be convinced of anything. And the “convincers” are those in advertising, and the “trend-setters.” The (pseudo)sophisticated are eager to adopt whatever is newest because they want to be among the trend-setters and those in the know. Some will turn their insecurity into a form of arrogance. They've convinced themselves, and they want to convince you, of their superiority and of their wisdom (sophia in Greek, with the same root as sophist and sophisticated).

The problem is that their sophistication is too often pretended. And their real goal is to convince other pretenders of their qualifications for being in the group. That's where fashions come from. And that's where “sophistication coaches” (“experts,” trainers, advertisers, and other scammers) make their money. The willingness of others to accept and to follow the trends makes them even more fashionable. Fads are more important than facts. Claims best reality. Not just for the fashion leaders, but for all of us. That's why there's so much bragging and advertising in the social media. Most of us buy in. With enough sophistry we can make the best of anything. And I can impose my superior feng shui on others, rather than have them criticize it and pretend theirs is better.








March 30, 2017