Perceptions of Paradise

What is “good”? Today I attended Richard Harris’ session called “Ideal Myths and Real Consequences: Differing Cultural Perceptions of the Good,” where we learned about different classical concepts of Paradise. Dr. Harris made the session interactive, first allowing us the opportunity to brainstorm what our own personal Paradise is, and then having us work in small groups to come to a consensus about different aspects of Paradise. Having to write out in words what we think is “good” – the ideal, Paradise – was a much more challenging task than I thought it would be. Having to somehow decode the feeling I have when I hear the word “Paradise” was akin to having to describe the events of a dream: it is impossible to describe because the details are vague, but the feeling strongly lingers. I completely understand and agree with Dr. Harris’ message that Paradise is different in every culture, though I think that the one universal characteristic of Paradise is that in all cultures the very word (translated, of course) conjures vague memories and vivid feelings as it does for me.

Toward the end of the session we discussed how the activity of examining Paradise as subjective rather than objective could be used in intercultural training to better understand others’ cultural perspectives. Although we did not discuss this much during the session, I think another use of this activity could be in applying it to those who do development work in other cultures. Development projects are often fueled by a belief that what one is doing is “good.” However, how do we decide what is good? What informs our perception of what is ideal? If culture shapes who we are, it largely shapes our value system, and therefore what we decide is good. While we may think that our decisions of what is good and right in the world is based on some universal, instinctual belief, it is really based on what our culture typically determines to be good.

I would be interested to see how this activity could be implemented into trainings for those working in development to make sure that what they are doing is based on host culture definitions of the good. If my Paradise is different than others in the room this morning and we come from fairly similar cultural backgrounds, I cannot image the extent to which development workers’ and developing communities’ Paradises vary. Rather than imparting our own dreams upon others, they should be empowered to decide what is good for them, because one man’s Paradise very well may be another man’s Hell.