An interesting question

  There is an interesting question, if you happen to see a crowd in orchard road and they are watching a man who is trying to heal many patients who suffer incurable diseases or injuries and he does manage to heal them by just touching them, and then what is your reaction to this case? Surprised, just keep watching or ask the man for more information? In fact, this is the question we discussed when I attended an international students’ gathering. My answer was that I would just keep watching and see what would happen next. Because a man like him and doing such thing in orchard road reminds me of the scenes in some TV programs in China, and the man would always turn out to be a cheater or just doing advertisement. It cannot be true that someone would have such power to heal people. But most of the western students said that they would ask him for more information. I think they were not wrong but the education I received made me think that they would be easier to be cheated if the man actually was a cheater. What the cheater wants is just drawing their attention and then finds someone who believes him and then starts his cheat. The different answers reflect the difference on the way I think and the way western students think.

  And what about the following question, the man just walk and then touch a coffin and then the dead person finally stands up again, when asked who he is, he claims that he is God, would you believe in him? At this time, to my surprise, most westerners said that they did not believe him and they would just walk away. I was surprised because why they did not ask him for more information this time like what I chose to do. By the way, I did not believe, either. One of their explanation was very brilliant, she said she would not believe him to be a God no matter how many special power he showed her because she thought that God was not someone physical, he was not something you could see or touch, he was in heaven and also in everywhere…I did not remember all she said but I think what she meant is that God is something in you mind, he can influence what you think and do but you cannot see or touch him.

  Finally I try to get some explanation to our different answers and this is what I get: it is the religious that makes our answers different. I and most of the Chinese are free thinkers and we do not believe that there are Gods in the world and even there is not superpower like that man shows. And that makes me feel ridiculous when I see the scene above and will not believe. But the westerners believe there is God, like Jesus, and they believe that some special powers are likely to exist. That is why they will not think the man is cheater at the first scene.

   Maybe this question will not be interesting for some people, but at least I think it is interesting and we got many different ideas through our discussion and I surely learn something from this discussion.