I was reading recently about a teaching from the Hopis, a Native American nation. It said, "in their educational system, if a student did not know the answer to a question asked of him or her in the classroom, no other student would raise a hand to answer that question. It was considered rude and uncivilized to embarrass or humiliate the first student. It was not important to impress the teacher with one's own brilliance, and it was thought to be barbaric to advance oneself at the expense of one's peers."
Isn't that a wonderful teaching. I have vivid memories in grade school being asked questions and not knowing the answer. I just wanted to melt into the floor. Then the feeling of not being very smart because I couldn't answer the question. Unfortunately, in our culture, in our "civilized" culture we are taught to get all you can and can all you can get. Always, to profit at the expense of others never considering the feelings of those you step on making your way to the top.
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