dementia praecox

In the "Sayings of Han Fei Zi - The Severe Code of Legalist", was this story:

One day, Duke Wen of Jin found hairs on his roast meat. He summoned the cook for questioning.

"How dare you put hairs in my roast meat! Are you trying to choke me?"

The cook replied, "I am guilty of three capital crimes, Your Majesty. First, I kept my knife as sharp as the legendary sword but only managed to sever the meat but not the hair. Second, I skewered the meat and roasted it on the fire but failed to see the hairs. Thirdly, I kept the fire strong enough to roast the meat but was not able to burn the hairs."

He paused then continues, "... But, is there someone in the kitchen who hates me?"

Duke Wen thought about it and called in the kitchen hand for interrogation. He was found to be the culprit and later executed.

The moral of the story: It pays to probe tell-tale signs in a crime. He who benefits from a crime is the greatest suspect.

Why then did I say that this theory doesn't apply? Or should I say it no longer applies? 不知道是人越活越回去了；退化得没道德可言，还是学会了得寸进尺；越来越会耍心机。 The fact is, be it in work place or in real crimes some people still gets away with this. We always say learn from the past.

Are we really learning though?

Labels: Ponders, Rants