More Life Lessons From Our Beloved Reading, Cosmopolitanism

The akyiwade is, as we've seen, thickly enmeshed in all sorts of customs and factual beliefs, and one response to such alien values is just to dimiss them as primitive and irrational. But if that is what they are, then the primitive and the irrational are pervasive here, too. Indeed, the affect, the sense of repugnance, that underlies akyiwade is surely universal: that's one reason it's not difficult to grasp.

This passage actually becomes quite lengthy and begins to discuss the logical reasons why we would not want to eat cats, even though some others would find it perfectly normal. We think eating cats would be gross, reason enough for us to not do it. But as we can see, other cultures consume them without any distaste or disgust and get pleasure out of doing so. They do not make them sick, as they are probably just as healthy as any of the things we eat. Besides all of this, this passage can be related to interaction at UK. We may look at others around campus and see them as different, they dress different, act different, hang out with a different peer group. We may even label these people as "weird". But the fact of the matter is, nothing they are doing is wrong, they get enjoyment out of dressing as they do, acting as they do, and socializing with those they do. This does not mean they are in the wrong, or that you are in the right. We just need to accept that different people are into different things, hold different values. We should never let barriers such as this that appear alien to us stand in the way of us meeting new people. If anything, these differences should in fact entice us to befriend someone who is not exactly like ourselves. This is the most effective way to branch out, and to again learn new things about the world, new beliefs, and new customs.