Proverbs and sayings (folk wisdom) surround every person. That's not news. But few people think about what the program of folk wisdom is. What does she set the person up to? In other words, what does folk wisdom teach? We will talk about this below.
Object and subject of folk wisdom: an ordinary citizen-man in the street
First of all, you need to understand that folk wisdom was sculpted by simple people, for the most part without outstanding intellectual and spiritual delights. But their main advantage is that they were respectable. Therefore, folk wisdom is mainly aimed at the majority, which is the basis of any society.
But this does not mean at all that proverbs and sayings are not used by the intellectual elite. On the contrary, such elements of folk wisdom are present in their lexicon, but it is unlikely that people who have their own, different from the majority, opinion about reality, are subject to some program set for centuries. What is it? If very briefly, then the wisdom of the people almost exhaustively expresses itself in the everyday aphorism: “Every man in his life mustdo three things: build a house, raise a son, and plant a tree.” Let's look at each item in detail.
A man should be hardworking
This is definitely a positive quality in the eyes of the people. Moreover, labor must be necessarily physical. Intellectual labor as a kind of activity was not understood and widespread in the environment from which most of the sayings came out. Proverbs and sayings for intellectuals had to be invented by the representatives of this social group themselves. Remember the poem by N. A. Zabolotsky "Do not let the soul be lazy." This is just a work about the importance of working on oneself in a spiritual, intellectual way.
Of course, folk wisdom does not ignore education, but still, preference is given to practical teaching, mastering some skill so that it could be applied in the future in work.
Moreover, labor is not perceived in the collective image of the proverbial hero as a means to earn money. In other words, he doesn't want to mine "more gold". He approaches his work from a purely concrete and practical position. For example, they say: “You can’t even pull a fish out of the pond without difficulty,” or “Did the job - walk boldly.” Of course, now the sayings are filled with a more abstract meaning, but earlier, “work” was understood as manual labor. However, it's time for us to move on.
Everyone should have a family
"To raise a son" means that all thoughts of a person should be directed to the family and children. He must strive for this with all his might. ButPopular wisdom is weak in that it advises abstractly, focusing on a person in general, who does not exist in nature. At first glance, all this is very harmless. Think family. Imagine if the majority used this kind of moral imperative as a guide to action. For example, everyone should have a family, but what about those who are unlucky? We will not take extreme examples, we will take one completely ordinary one. The guy, he's in his early thirties, no kids, no wife either. And now all those around him begin to ask: "How? What? Why?" But all this is because people are sure that everyone should have a family. We hope it has become clear what the advice of folk wisdom on quality and character is. Let's move on.
Every man should have a harmless hobby
The phrase "plant a tree" prescribes to the head of the family certain canons of behavior. No poker on Fridays, no beer with friends, no footballs and baths after sports. A man, instead of all these nonsense, should be engaged in trees and ennoblement of the outside world.
The image of such a man is fabricated by women's hopes and cherished desires?
Imagine how now women and girls smile dreamily and think: "Yes, that would be the perfect spouse." But, as I. Talkov sang: "Oh, do not rush, dear, do not be so naive." Such a man expects a certain behavior and attitude from a woman. In this case, it should be, according to the apt definition of Kurt Vonnegut, a “maternity machine” and a “kitchencombine. And a man, even in this family, acts as a “badly or well-earning machine,” but he requires all sorts of treatment and respect.
Some of today's women find the patriarchal model sweet, and they are ready to lay down their souls to the devil, if only such a man is found for them. But others, those who are moderately emancipated persons, are unlikely to be delighted with such a person - "the master of the house."
Signs only work on a psychological level. Mirrors
Special attention should be paid to signs, because it is they who do not allow many people to sleep peacefully at night. For example, among the people (and not only in Russian) there is a belief that breaking a mirror is unfortunately or near the death of the one who broke it.
Mirrors are endowed with a special mystical power. Many peoples have a custom to hang them with a cloth when there is a dead person in the house. The mirror is a passage, a door to the world of the dead. If a person left through it, then he must be prevented from returning, and therefore everything is curtained. And yes, besides, no one wants uninvited guests from the world of nothingness. Terrible stories are sometimes presented by folk wisdom.
Probably, the sign with the mirror is based on this legend. If a person broke a mirror, then he attracted attention and did bad things to the dead, and they will remember and take revenge.
It is easy to understand that terrible legends act on a person on a subconscious level, and he himself programs himself for near death. Here are some signs. Folk wisdom can also be a little creepy.
Blackcat
The little animal should also blame folk medieval European legends for its unsweetened life. It was at that time that it was believed that the devil was embodied in black cats, so they are treated with caution to this day.
Why can't you climb on the dining table?
Here, too, everything is quite simple. In the villages, a coffin was usually placed on the table in the hut. Therefore, it is believed that if a person climbs onto the dining table, then he invites his own death or someone else's death in the house. Here's the story.
The way to yourself. Testament of Peter Mamonov
Is there an alternative to worldly wisdom? Yes, it consists in especially not listening to the people and the majority, but to go one's own way. Maybe for someone it will sound rude, but sometimes even the closest people should not be blindly listened to, because they have their own ideas about life. We must go to ourselves, as P. Mamonov says. As for the majority, it is in its nature to put pressure on an individual and force him to become like everyone else.
In conclusion, I would like to apologize to those readers who expected to find proverbs about folk wisdom in our article. The answer to the dumb question is this: there is no need to write here what is in abundance in the minds of every person. But there is not enough analytical material on the topic. All those phrases that the rumor prescribes to the people are their wisdom. This is how the article turned out, which examined folk wisdom (sayings), or rather its meaning, psychologicaland philosophical meaning.
