Furnace Review | Prisons, Sieges & Walls

"Room Reviews" is a commentary column written by members of the Rooker review team. The comments will revolve around a keyword, and members will express their opinions and write independently, which can either point to a stern criticism of relevant social hotspots, or it can be a poetic expression based on individual life experience. The keyword of this commentary is "isolation", and readers and friends are welcome to contribute and speak with us and write around the fireplace.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, isolation has become a collective memory of our generation. Whether it is suddenly being taken to a restaurant by an ambulance for a long centralized quarantine, or stuck at home counting the food in the freezer to live, or if the health code suddenly turns yellow and we dare not go anywhere for fear of being caught and quarantined, we are more or less All have experienced similar fears, loneliness and helplessness. In the past two years, the semantics of the word "quarantine" has quietly changed in Fox's expression. It is used to specifically refer to this epidemic prevention method to control the spread of the epidemic, and it also carries countless personal memories obscured by the ashes of the times. In fact, the term "isolation" is used to indicate that the state of isolation has a more general meaning. In addition to this large-scale quarantine in response to the virus, there are also artificially constructed transparent walls in reality, setting up institutional barriers between different races, genders and classes to block the flow of resources. What does isolation really mean? We're talking about isolation here to better connect with each other, and no one is an island.

1

network can't

Text|Grade 2 of Yangcheng Lake Foreign Vocational College

Do you still like online classes?

I think you, who can read this text, have been or are facing the glowing screen, and interact with the "avatar" card by card in front of the screen. Once upon a time, it should be said that most people are happy to step into the era of online courses. Before the outbreak, we cheered the emergence of Coursera, MOOC. Sing praises to online and cyberization. Of course, the positive significance of onlineization today cannot be underestimated. After all, taking 10,000 steps back, online courses at least allow you to go back and look at the course videos when you encounter weekly work, or search for recorded courses on the same topic on bilibili. Online classes also break the constraints of space and time, and getting a decent internet connection, especially at the moment, seems to be much easier and less risky than having everyone gathered in a space that isn't necessarily comfortable.

But are we really still teary-eyed about the arrival of online classes? In other words, the sudden online presence made us realize that there are some things that the Internet really can’t do.

Specifically, I think what the current network cannot achieve is an "ambience" and a "sense of experience". It's the same feeling of loss as being able to connect to the microphone but still not as good as being in the fourth row in the dormitory. It seems like we've done the same thing, but we're still frustrated with spending a good part of our college or high school career in front of the screen. It's not necessarily that we like schools and dorms more than rooms at home, it's just that we do have a lot of resistance to the lack of it. In addition, our vacation time seems to be divided by endless quarantines and overweights. I used to take half a month of summer vacation and three or two friends to come to the Qinggan Great Ring Road or the North-South Xinjiang tandem, but today, even if you want to check in at the Zhanjiang Airport, which is about to be relocated at the speed of light, you have to consider whether you should come back and enjoy your home. Isolation + health monitoring. The epidemic has changed the original daily life, and it is also destroying some of our cherished memories.

Of course, you can say that such judgments are only temporary. With the development of technology, we can also overcome all kinds of difficulties. As the Metaverse grows, it doesn't seem far off that we'll move all of our physical scenes and parties online, with enough equipment to create the atmosphere. And, not everyone is a social animal. For an autistic fat house like me, it seems that it is enough to be able to connect with the world or the community where I live, and the form does not seem to be important.

However, even if we can achieve the same feeling in the future, the exact same experience will still be difficult to replicate. What is paradoxical about the alienation of interpersonal relationships that isolation brings us is its randomness. You are willing to walk back to the dormitory with your friends after missing the last bus in the middle of the night, because you happened to miss the last bus and took the "No. 11 bus" for half an hour to go back to the dormitory. It is probably because you planned to miss the last bus tonight. At 12:04, I walked out of the school gate and started walking towards the dormitory. Life and the ingenious structure of our brains make this effortless and effortless accidental encounter between people, but when we go online, it's even a matter of improvisation, turning on the device, and getting dressed. , Set the desired environment and time, all of which are too deliberate and sometimes too cumbersome. We are not doing something for a certain moment, for a certain spring rain, for a certain meeting, but such encounters and actions existed in a small majority in the physical sense before the outbreak, when we all had no choice. It takes place in a space surrounded by walls. Online seems to give us choices and freedom, but we can't simply choose to gather together without any worries, and we can't choose the option of being together and approaching each other.

We may not need to say so quickly that we are about to enter an era where everything is floating, and the sudden impact of the epidemic now seems to be able to see a glimmer of light of relief and recovery. However, just as we were looking forward to the changes brought about by the Internet, the worries of the next era are still there. The high walls built by the current patents, the beggar-thy-neighbor between subcultures, and the calculation of domesticating each user remind us that the era when sharing was king was just a flash in the pan in the beautiful vision of knowledge progress (not even for Most people), I just hope that when we inevitably choose such more economical channels of interaction in the future, we still have the freedom to choose to shake hands with the people we meet every day.

2

extension of isolation

Text | Charles

In addition to isolation, which was born as an anti-epidemic countermeasure, today there are many broad definitions of "isolation" and division, national borders, group identities, ideologies, social classes, and more. Although the isolation under the epidemic has a great impact, it is after all a temporary anti-epidemic countermeasure, and the separation between countries, ethnic groups and other identities, and between classes is a long-term phenomenon, and there are also long-term unresolved problems behind it. Under the influence of the epidemic, many problems are gradually intensifying, and the confrontation between different classes, identity groups and countries has become more and more prominent. "Isolation" does not only appear in epidemic prevention measures, but also in many aspects of society. higher and higher separation.

The gap between social classes is also one of the “segregations” that have intensified in recent years. Rising income inequality, uneven regional development, and narrowing of the upward path have even become a system that reinforces inequality. These problems are not only domestic, but also global. The rich resources of the wealthy class enable their children to receive better education. Under the seemingly fair examination system, the competitiveness of students from the lower classes of society is getting weaker and weaker; the long-term existence of the market economy system and private ownership will inevitably lead to income injustice and stratification. None of these problems have yet been resolved, and the epidemic has brought society to a standstill in the short term. The reduction of face-to-face social interaction has caused depression and helplessness to spread to the whole society. People are now not only physically isolated, but also mentally isolated. There are also many segregations in the dimension of the world, of which populism is one example. As an important political force formed in the past ten years, populism has risen rapidly with the deepening of the inequality prevailing in various countries, the fluctuations and crises of the global economy since the 21st century, and the increasing prominence of immigration issues. Many populist parties and populist views have gained considerable international support not only because they directly touch on these issues that affect everyone but few are actually trying to solve, but also because they often It can give people the hope of returning to a better past. Populist political parties are more inclined towards the middle and lower classes and oppose elite-dominated politics. Some populist political parties also emphasize a single ethnic identity and cultural unity, oppose the pluralistic society brought about by immigration, and advocate the return of some traditional values and the return of domestic enterprises, etc. etc. and center on it, and many claim that they represent their country "as it is", even if this entails a lot of "isolation", both tangible and intangible. The economic stagnation brought about by the epidemic has stalled the resolution of many social problems, and the economic downturn has further deepened inequality. Populist solutions still seem to be quite attractive. For example, in the city where I live, local people's dissatisfaction with African laborers has grown considerably after the outbreak. The occurrence of some controversial incidents and the incitement of many self-media holding extreme views have intensified the two groups. opposition between. In the past, discontent with expatriates may have only been directed against inappropriate behavior of some people, but now it has risen to the trend of "expelling" all local Africans. Anti-racism was and still is the mainstream consensus in society, but this consensus has been riddled with the epidemic and the "threat" exaggerated by the media, and the diversity of society seems to be gradually shrinking, polarized views more and more. There are also crises brewing in these many quarantines. The cooling of globalization and the rise of populism will be a trend for a long time, which may also mean the intensification of geopolitical conflicts, the shrinking of cultural exchanges, economic recession, and the polarization of political thoughts and public opinion. For individuals, if the crisis is severe enough, the many dissatisfactions with the current system will gradually converge and become a force that changes the course of society. Although the world today is not that bad, the undercurrent under this isolation cannot be ignored. 3 Self Is Prison Article | Nicole is in power during the epidemic, and the visible isolation covers the invisible isolation, but whether it is visible or invisible, the partition is there. Xu is a visible door, a heavy protective suit and food handed in, Xu is an invisible but impenetrable wall, rarely touched, and even its existence may not be known. A powerful force majeure bound her legs and feet, sometimes blaming fate and others for successive tragedies and pains, and turning to herself, I thought at least her thoughts were free, but I saw her wandering within the transparent fence. It turned out that I had already built a prison for myself and sentenced to life imprisonment. I found it difficult to cross the boundaries of my imagination and make up my mind to leave the land beneath my feet and live in isolation. I built a prison for myself with knowledge, theories, and books, willingly imprisoning my self-knowledge in such a small space that I gradually lost enough diverse perspectives and efforts to understand others. The more books we read, the more things we don’t understand, and we become more arrogant and arrogant unintentionally. We mistakenly think that we are qualified to comment on things on the other side of the world, standing on the high ground built with theory. On the stage, he was pointing fingers at others, and he felt a little bit of pride in scolding Fang Qiu, but he was dismissive of the ancient and simple. We naturally talk about the international situation and class, talk about equality and freedom, use the theories of sages as a tool to touch something higher than human beings, deny the views of others without thinking, and talk endlessly, but always forget our own insignificance. We will think too complex in simple, but understand complexity too simple. I thought of in "The Unbearable Lightness of Life", the Czech immigrants who were exiled to Prague held a compatriots meeting, and talked about taking up arms and fighting Russia desperately to regain the civilized and noble motherland, Sabina said: "Well, you guys Go back and fight!" The gentlemen with slender forefingers and delicate curly hair were angry at her words, and then fell silent. Suddenly I think of the scene described by Annette LaRue in "Unequal Childhood": middle-class children are aware of the gap between classes, but blur and weaken the relationship between their good life and class belonging. Classes discuss how to bridge class, race, and gender, and they deliver affirmative-action speeches. There may not be any necessary connection between the two, and I just feel vaguely similar. I seem to see some kind of arrogance that has nothing to do with me, and I also see myself. We are accustomed to starting from ourselves to try to figure out others, using the world of "me" as an analogy to the world of others, and euphemistically calling it "improve ourselves and others" - but at the same time think that we are different. As a result, it is often difficult for us to fully understand viewpoints from different contexts, and this inexplicable arrogance leads us to see "different" as "insufficient."

It may be too harsh to attribute it all to self. When the information and objects within the line of sight become more and more homogenized, the objects of interest and relatively agreed viewpoints are constantly repeated among similar groups of people, and the "information cocoon room" and "echo chamber effect" in communication have already been discussed. enough, we are naturally placed in the cradle of familiarity, comfortable but also stagnant, and "the world" gradually becomes equivalent to "my world" in our eyes. In this layer of confinement, technical power is indispensable, and the choice of "I" has become no longer pure. However, but I may also be able to delusionally seize the right to a little self-control?

Write these words, or need to add two sentences of explanation. I have no intention of justifying or blaming what those restraints and pushers from the outside are doing. We are helpless and powerless in the face of many things-but if we want to get out and break open, we must first stand up from the cradle, untie the rope that binds us to ourselves, and we must first touch the transparent plug wall. I used to think that reading gave me the ability to understand others, but in retrospect, to what extent was that understanding condescending, unreasonable, and incredibly narrow? I have no idea. Perhaps it is the quest for the perplexity of standing still and breaking through the status quo, perhaps only seeing the decoupling of theory and reality, and perhaps being able to relate to those more distant things. Maybe it's just talking about it from myself, first lift the isolation that I have given.

4

Inverse Cultural Isolation: The Most Familiar Stranger

Wen | Yan Bing

The era of globalization has ushered in a new wave of immigration and study abroad, and the sudden epidemic has called a large number of wanderers to return to work in China. We can feel the cultural shock brought about by leaving our hometown, and feel depressed and lonely in an unfamiliar social environment, but it is even more difficult to imagine the inverse cultural isolation of "the young and the old leave home and the old man returns, the local accent has not changed, and the hair on the temples has faded" after many years. Under the original cultural model, people developed their original cognition and behavioral standards, and in the face of a brand-new human environment, they lost familiar social communication symbols, and cultural shock (refers to a person's fear of entering an unfamiliar cultural environment, Repulsion, etc.) happens, and even the familiar matriarchal culture becomes a "stranger".

As an iconic symbol and a form of physical expression, culture is inherited by the carrier of the social environment. If culture can be acquired through exploration and learning, the social background in which one lives is difficult to replicate. Such cultural and psychological conflicts are defined in different dimensions: the sense of deprivation caused by the loss of friends and social status, the confusion of identity, the surprise of noticing cultural differences, and the powerlessness of being unable to adapt to the new cultural environment.

People recognize the impact and restraint brought by the new culture, but often ignore the re-adaptation of the matriarchal culture. It is worth noting that although they all take place in the stage of cultural leap, the process of leaving the mother culture and entering the foreign culture is different from the process of returning to the mother culture again. Although the cultural traditions are retained in the first cognition, new knowledge has changed the way of life, and the new changes of the matriarchal culture have brought the emotions of the returnees to a new level. When the cultural span is large, such psychological discomfort is eliminated. Infinitely magnified. Transitioning from Amazon users to powerful logistics JD.com, holding cash and walking on the street full of QR code collections cannot consume, and is used to tipping the master who repairs shoes on the roadside, like being isolated in a foreign land without knowing what to do people. But it is undeniable that the degree of isolation of reverse culture is also closely related to variables such as personality characteristics and situational influence.

Reverse culture shock, as a temporary social isolation, is often mistaken for negative change, or even fascination. No matter which side crosses the cultural conflict, it ultimately points to psychological reconciliation, which means moving towards assimilation, synthesis or marginalization. This is the result of the changing and constant diversity strategies of individuals when social behavior occurs. On the whole, cultural adaptation seems to need to span more than two cultures, and it is a long-term process of continuous acceptance, understanding, and choice.

Although the word "isolation" may seem indifferent and shocking, the process of reverse acculturation is never a laggard who is isolated from the matriarchal culture. Just as rivers scour sand dams and carry away sediment to create unique coastal scenery, culture shock is a brand new experience for every individual living across cultures, struggling and accepting, losing and gaining, and losing and satisfying. If you are inevitably placed in the cultural torrent, you might as well enjoy the opportunity to reshape yourself and discover yourself under the impact of the environment.

5

Language: Invisible Cultural Isolation

Text | Fred

My parents were both born and raised in the South who came to the North early to work. In my memory, although my parents also have many local friends, over the years, they have played the most closely with fellow villagers from the same southern town, and the happiest laughter is always accompanied by their hometown dialect.

After I left my parents and went to a foreign country, I gradually realized that Chinese became my "hometown dialect". Even if my English does not affect my communication with the locals, my social circle is still dominated by Chinese. We still prefer Chinese-based social interaction and are inevitably unfamiliar with English-based social interaction. past feeling.

Why do we prefer to socialize with fellow villagers so much? I think language must be one of the keys. Speaking the same language not only means convenient communication, but also means that we have the same cultural heritage and identity. According to the philosopher Wittgenstein, language is a set of symbolic tools for constructing the world. So different languages mean different pipelines for building the world. The native dialect constructs a unique world for fellow villagers, and also potentially isolates non-native dialect based social isolation. Language is such an invisible but extraordinarily powerful wall, which isolates society to a large extent and at the same time isolates culture to a large extent.

Different languages themselves are manifestations of different cultures. Because language is not just the expression of the moment, but the accumulation of the culture, thought and way of life of our ancestors over thousands of years. For example, Chinese contains a lot of vocabulary from Buddhist and Taoist thought. For example, "Fate", "Cause and Effect", "Jianghu" and so on. You can say this: when we speak Chinese, we are already in the Chinese culture.

The isolating effect of language on culture is also demonstrated in translation. There are many Chinese words that are difficult to find in English, and vice versa. And some words, even if they seem to find matching translations, actually have subtle differences in semantics. Alas, in philosophical literature, we often see authors adopting specific Greek words to express meanings that cannot be expressed in English. Because the use of Greek is to use the definition and understanding of the word by the masses and thinkers in ancient Greece, which must be irreplaceable by other languages.

What does the isolation of language mean in today's world? Global social media such as Twitter connects the world closely, and information can be disseminated rapidly without space constraints. The communication and integration of different cultures have never been as frequent and simple as today. As the communications scientist McLuhan said, the media is building the world into a Global Village. However, excessive communication and integration can lead to homogenization, a loss of cultural diversity. The Chinese philosopher Wang Defeng believes that the loss of cultural diversity is the loss of human wisdom. Today, people's communication is completely free from geographical restrictions, so language has become the last separation wall between different cultures, and plays a key role in protecting cultural diversity. Because the North American government vigorously promotes English education in Gaoshan schools, the North American Gaoshan people have fought against the local government for many years to retain Gaoshan language education because they are worried about cultural loss caused by the loss of their mother tongue. Article 14 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that “Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions to provide education in their own languages and through channels appropriate to their cultural teaching methods”, which also emphasizes the protection of languages importance.

On the other hand, if only the local language is spoken everywhere, it is true that the local culture will be well preserved, but it also means that the communication between different cultures will be hindered. This explains the inevitability of the popularization of bilingual or even more language education, and also explains the rationality of the existence of global social media mainly in English, such as Twitter.

Language segregates different cultures. The protection of the mother tongue is the key to preserving the diversity of the world's cultures; the mastery of languages other than the mother tongue ensures the communication between multiculturalism.

Text|Review Team Around the Furnace

Figure | From the Internet

Draft | Ronnie

Cover Design | Yan Bing

WeChat typography | Tho

mattersTypesetting | Gigi

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