Why must debate translated into Japanese as Kyuron (究論)?
Because other possible translations don't work. 議論、討論、闘論、激論、対論, you name it.
Why don’t they work?
Because all of them are arguments (口論) to prove yourself “right” at the expense of others who should be considered or proven “wrong”. The game of labeling each other wrong encourages demonizing or name-calling. Ergo it’s called “Kenka” “fighting” or “argument” in Japan, 議論 leads to 口論 (Kenka or war of words).
Why does only debate work? I mean why does Kyuron work?
Because it’s meant to jointly seek the truth ? beyond the egos of individual debaters. It’s play, a team effort, creative and musical.
Musical? Why?
Because we can “dance” to a debate; it has the flow of music, take a Sonata, for instance. It flows exposition, development, capitulation (coda, too). It has a healing (creative) quality. Kyuron looks better in Kanji. ‘究’ means seek or dig deeper. Second, it sounds better. It has a vowel sound “YOU /ju:/” as in IT: Yahoo, Google, You-Tube… so ubiquitous 究 comes or oozes from the nature of itself. Spontaneous generation comes with “oomph.” Third, it tastes good. Nutritious. Good for the soul. Every participant benefits from the result of the debate. The name of the game of debate is ‘nothing is personal.’ It’s sort of like ants or bees sharing food among themselves. Let’s seek the truth together. It’s a team effort. We’re a team. Last but not least, Kyuri, cricket’s favorite food, gets tastier when combined with ‘moro-miso.’ Morokyu sounds like a word molecule. A molecule, says Oxford, is a group of atoms bonded together, representing the smallest fundamental unit as a chemical compound that can take part in a chemical reaction. No wonder, intellectually nourishing. Yummy. I’ve been eating cucumbers for the past couple of weeks, being face to face with crickets (male and female) and me. Just the three of us. A triplet.
Why 究論 as the translation, now?
It’s the painful price I’ve had for the effort to come up with the ultimate translation of the bee language, debate, for the period of more than forty years. But those were not lost years; those were the years of fermentation. It was just triggered by my life-long companions: crickets. My Muse. My Muse descended upon me with the message: rub your conflicting wings together and you’ll create music. Music is the ultimate language of emotion, love and will. Words are just shadows, the will makes the shadow move, so to speak. 影を動かす is in Musashi’s Book of Five Rings.
Why the martial arts?
I’m talking about the spirit of the will that transcends every soul in every discipline. The soul abides but the spirit soars ? like Bushido, the code of ethics of the samurai. The spirit of Musashi, an invincible warrior, spills over to Sherlock Holmes or even to Da Vinci. Or even back to Socrates, possessed by Daimon (demon). Da Vinci believed in having it both ways: art and science. Right brain and left brain. The sound of the crickets is both music and noise. Dr. Tsumoda’s theory was partially disproved by the AIU students enrolled in my debate class. I’m open-minded. Debater must deal with any issue with an open mind. Debate isn’t a zero-sum game.
Pardon?
What you gain in argument isn’t necessarily what I lose. Make the pie bigger. You never know in reality, maybe losers make bigger breaks. Debate gives you the joy of losing. The joy of having the scales fall from your eyes, on the assumption that every great discovery was made by the great minds possessed by the devil of curiosity. Da Vinci, Albert Einstein, uh… and me. Michihiro Matsumoto, AIU professor. I’m alarmed by the book Fruitless Fall. The colony collapse and resulting disorder scares the hell out of me, because it spells the collapse of American agriculture: The collapse of agribusiness could mean the collapse of western civilization, depending heavily on bee keeping.
Why bee-keeping?
Because bees are hexagonal thinkers. Hexagonal logic is the key to my soccer debate. For its major emphasis is on the void as a nucleus of any powerful argument. Hexagonal logic is a cross between debate (bee-thinking) and argument (ant-thinking). A three-dimensional debate. In a way, I’m an alchemist synthesizing bees (global) and ants (local), IQ and EQ. Seeking the “void” - gravitational center. If you lose the vital center of “void” (ethereal entity), the source that emerges goes both heaven-ward and earth-bound. The future of AIU hinges on this vital center, that can be improved only through my hexagonal principle.
