宽心是福-Where is the news leading us

1、1Where is the news leading us?Norman Cousins (1915-1990)2lBackground knowledgelThe authors political view “Norman Cousins (1915 1990) was an American political journalist, author, professor, and world peace advocate.” -Wiki“Cousins longstanding leadership as a global peacemaker is explored as well a

2、s envisioning a world within which peace and mutual respect could exist amongst all people & nations.” “the legendary editor & author to explore the power of belief.” -http:/ a 1984 forum at the University of California, Berkeley entitled “Quest for Peace,” Cousins recalled the long editorial he wro

3、te on August 6, 1945, the day the United States dropped the bomb in Hiroshima. Titled “The Modern Man is Obsolete,” Cousins, who stated that he felt “the deepest guilt” over the bombs use on human beings, discussed in the editorial the social and political implications of the atomic bomb and atomic

4、energy. He rushed to get it published the next day in the Review, and the response was considerable, as it was reprinted in newspapers around the country, and enlarged into a book that was reprinted in different languages.6lBackground knowledgelHis honor Cousins received the Albert Schweitzer Prize

5、in 1990. (It is a prize given to people who made exemplary contributions to humanity and the environment. The prize was established in 1986 by an international grain German merchant, Albert Toepfer. It is named after noted humanitarian and physician Albert Schweitzer) Other prizes named after a pers

6、on (known in the world) 尤金史密斯人道主义摄影奖 (Known in China 鲁迅文学奖、茅盾文学奖)7lHis combat with his disease: Told that he had little chance of surviving, Cousins developed a recovery program incorporating megadoses (大剂量)of Vitamin C, along with a positive attitude, love, faith, hope, and laughter induced by Marx

7、 Brothers films. I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep, he reported. When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we would switch on the motion picture projector again and not

8、infrequently, it would lead to another pain-free interval.“his dignity as a tough fighter against his disease 8lHis notable quotes:Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live. History is a vast early warning system.”Question for discussion: how does

9、 such background relate to the theme in the text?9Structure of the textlThe text can be divided into two major parts, with the authors argument in the middle: Part 1 from Para 1 to Para 8 Para 9 contains the authors position Part 2 from Para 10 to Para 13 10Part 1. l1. What is Cousinss purpose in th

10、e first 8 paragraphs? l2. Has he successfully led his readers to his conclusive argument? How does he do that?l3. His argument was presented in Para.9. Can you identify it?lThe responsibility of the news media is to search out and report on important event-whether or not they come under the heading

11、of conflict, confrontation, or catastrophe.11lHow does he bring out his view point successfully?He begins with a question to two journalists: why are the news papers and the television news programs so disaster-prone? (para.3)He then judges their answers to be missing the point: he believes that it

12、is not the responsibility of the journalists for the existence of negative news but .He thinks the reason lies with the definition of the term “news” (para.4-6)12lThe concept of news lEruptive vs. non-eruptive lDisasters vs. human progress which happens only in bits and pieces. lTo the author: human

13、 progress contains events worthy of coverage. (para.7-8) 13lThe last 4 paragraphs:Cousins strengthens his viewpoint by citing examples of what he considers positive developments of the world (para.10), and calling attention to the responsibility journalists have for affecting the way people think an

14、d the role the media play in shaping the mind of the people. (para. 11-13)14Detailed analysislLine 5: The purpose of the symposium, as I understood it, was to scrutinize the obligations of the media and to suggest the best ways to meet those obligations. lWe need further information on this.15Profes

15、sional Ethic Codes of the journalistl Public Trust： their first obligation is to the public- Understand that any commitment other than service to the public undermines trust and credibility.- Recognize an obligation to reflect the diversity of the community and guard against the over simplification

16、of the issues and events. On the contrary, they should provide a full range of information to enable the public to make enlightened decisions.- Not libel others. 不损坏他人名誉不损坏他人名誉 (to be continued in the discussion of Text II)16l Line 15-16l He was just wondering why distortions are most reported. The

17、news media seem to operate on the philosophy that all news is bad news. l Line 21l News is supposed to deal with happenings of the past 12 hours-24 hours at most. l Line 28l The most important ingredient in any civilization is progress, which is not eruptive and comes in bits and pieces.17l Line 35-

18、37 (Para.8) “An unrelieved diet of eruptive news depletes (exhausts) the essential human energies a free society needs.”l Paraphrase: A continuous amount of negative news reduces the human potential that a free society is in need of. Question: Why? 18lWhere is the negative news leading us?l An examp

19、le: http:/ In the past two weeks, the world has witnessed the desecration of the bodies of American citizens in Iraq and seen the terrified faces of kidnap victims of Iraqi insurgents. On any given day, one can open the newspaper and see that some guy murdered his wife, a mother is lacking food in a

20、n urban ghetto or a study appears saying AIDS infection rates are skyrocketing. 19l I am a voracious（贪婪的） news reader, and even I cannot take the saturation of violence and other depressing stories in the news any longer. People that I have contact with have a perception that the world is going down

21、 the toilet（彻底没希望了）, but I believe its not as bad as it may seem. This saturation(浸润，渗透，饱和) of the news with violence and depressing stories is a mischaracterization of the world that is poisoning the minds of our children. They need to learn that for every bad and disheartening story, there are tru

22、ly uplifting ones that go ignored every day. 20lLine 55 (Para 11)lWe are only what we think we are; we can achieve only those goals we dare to envision. News people provide us with the only picture we have of ourselves and of the world. lDifferent levels of understanding we/I and think 21l1st: a rel

23、igious understanding Proverbs 23:7 states, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” “Life consists in what a man is thinking of all day,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson. Or, as the Buddha said in the opening line of the Dhammapada（句法经） (1:1): “We are what we think. All that we are is the result of our

24、 thoughts.” 22l 2nd level: a philosophical understanding l Ren Descartes (1596-1650)lDescartes most famous statement is: Cogito ergo sum French: Je pense, donc je suis; English: I think, therefore I am; OR I am thinking, therefore I exist.lHe has been dubbed the Father of Modern Philosophy, and much

25、 of subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which continue to be studied closely to this day. 23l我思故我在l意思是：“当我怀疑一切事物的存在时，我却不用怀疑我本身的思想，因为此时我唯一可以确定的事就是我自己思想的存在”24l3rd interpretation: lYou are what you think you are:lThe implied meaning: your attitude manipulate your way of doing t

26、hings and your future achievements. lYour attitude influences how you relate yourself to the external world.lE.g.: Cousins own example of combating the serious disease: the power of belief25l L 60 (Para 12 )l The acquired culture is not transmitted in our genes. l The acquired culture (i.e., the goo

27、d life in a good society) can never be attained and possessed once and for all. It will not automatically be ingrained in our blood/our genetic system. l So, the wisdom of the good life in a good society needs to be transmitted through the media. 26l Para 13l Bernard de Chartres (1080?-1167), sugges

28、ted that we used history boosting ourselves up on our experiences : “like dwarfs seated on the shoulders of giants”l Humanist and philosopher, head of the celebrated school of Chartres, in France, whose attempt to reconcile the thought of Plato with that of Aristotle made him the principal represent

29、ative of 12th-century Platonism in the West. 27lPlato was the teacher of Aristotle.lAristotle once said: “Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth” 吾爱吾师，吾更爱真理。lAristotle refutes Platos Theory of Ideas on three basic grounds: that the existence of Ideas contradicts itself by denying the possibi

30、lity of negations; that his illustrations of Ideas are merely empty metaphors; and that the theory uses impermanent abstractions to create examples of perception. 28lBernard is a Platonist and yet the representative of a return to Nature which curiously anticipates the humanism of the early Renaissa

31、nce. John of Salisbury (Metalogicus, iv . 35) attributes to him two treatises, of which one contrasts the eternity of ideas with the finite nature of things, and the other is an attempt to reconcile Plato and Aristotle. http:/ Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants (Latin: nanos gigantum humeris insidentes) This is a Western metaphor