The Two Functions of Ethnocentrism in the Process of Modernization: The Tibetan Case
An increasing number of social scientists and scholars in the humanities have become interested in the intrinsic conflict between emotion and reason that has noticeably shaped recent history. The effects of uncontrolled emotion often are far greater than those of the moderating force of reason, as illustrated by the Sino-Soviet polemics of the 1960s, ten years of chaos during China's Cultural Revolution (which was like a modern God-making movement), and eight years of the Iran-Iraq war. The response to Salman Rushdie's book Satanic Verses is a new case in point; it shows that the use of reason, which sprouted from ancient society and was consciously developed in modern Europe, has not really triumphed over emotion. Thus, we must begin now to make better use of reason to examine the relationship between reason itself and emotion. The purpose of this discussion is to promote the development of both reason and emotion to better serve humanity by bringing to light the emotional basis of human reason and the rational basis of human emotion.