Chapter 16 About the teacher, ter

If Murray hadn't spent a few years in a mental institution, he probably wouldn't be the Murray I know, or the Murray everyone knows.This psychiatric hospital is located in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and it is called Chestnut House.This was one of Murray's first jobs after years of hard study and a master's and doctorate at the University of Chicago.He gave up studying medicine, law, or business administration, and believed that the path of academic research would allow him to contribute to society without exploiting others. Murray received a grant to go to a mental hospital to observe patients and keep records of their treatment.Such work is not surprising today, but in the early 1950s it was quite innovative.Among the patients Murray observed, some screamed all day, some cried all night, some made their underwear dirty and smelly, and some refused to eat until they died, and they had to be subdued Finally, a sedative was given, and then a nutritional injection was given.

There was a middle-aged female patient who lay face down on the tiled floor after she came out of the room every day. After staying for several hours, the doctor and nurse would step over her, which made Murray dumbfounded.Murray made a record of what he saw, which was his main purpose of going there, and this woman did the same thing day after day, lying on the ground when she came out of the room in the morning, and lying down until night, not talking to anyone, People also turned a blind eye to her.This made Murray feel bad, so he started sitting on the ground next to her, even laying next to her, trying to get her out of it.At last he made her sit up and even go back to her room.He found that what she wanted was the same as most people, and that was to be noticed by others.

Murray has worked at Chestnut House for five years.Despite the hospital's disapproval, he befriended some of the patients, and one woman joked with him that she was lucky to live here because my husband was rich and he could afford it.Think about it, what would happen if I lived in those cheap hospitals? Another woman spat at anyone she saw, but accepted Murray as a friend.They chatted every day, and the hospital was glad that someone could finally communicate with this woman.But one day the woman sneaked out, and the hospital sent someone to find her in a nearby store, and asked Murray to help bring her back.When Murray entered the store, he saw the woman hiding behind the store, staring at him with eyes that seemed to burst into flames.

The woman growled and said: So you are also one of them. Who's with it? It's about my people. Murray saw that most of these mentally ill patients were rejected or abandoned, as if they did not exist in the eyes of others.They also want sympathy from others, but hospital staff are quick to lose patience.Many patients came from good backgrounds and were wealthy, but having money did not bring them happiness or satisfaction.This was an unforgettable lesson Murray learned. I used to make fun of Murray, saying his mind was stuck in the 1960s.He would answer that the 1960s were not bad compared to our present era.

After working in a mental institution, Murray came to Brandeis to teach in the late 1950s.In just a few years, this university campus became a hotbed of the Cultural Revolution.Drugs, sex, race issues, anti-Vietnam war demonstrations.Abby.Hoffman (Abbie Hoffman) studied in Brandeis, Jerry.Rubin (Jerry Rubin) and Angela.So did Angela Davis.There are quite a few radical students like these in Murray's class. One of the reasons why this happens in schools is that the professors in the sociology department not only teach, but also practice.Needless to say, these professors were fiercely anti-war.When the professors learned that if the student's grades did not meet certain standards, the military service deferment might be cancelled, and he had to enlist in the army, the professors decided not to give grades.At this time, the school said: If you don't give marks to the students, they will all be regarded as bad, so Murray came up with a way: then give all the students 90 points.That's what professors do.

The university campus in the 1960s was full of turmoil, and the faculty of the Murray Sociology Department were also infected with the atmosphere of openness. They taught in sandals and jeans and regarded the classroom as a living forum.They replaced lectures with classroom discussions, and dry theory with practical experience.They sent students to the American South to work on civil rights projects or to do fieldwork in poor neighborhoods.They went to Washington to participate in demonstrations, and Murray often took the same bus with the students to connect.Once he saw a few girls in flowing long skirts and colorful beads, put flowers on the muzzles of soldiers' rifles, and then sat around on the lawn. The Pentagon of the Department of Defense floated up, and Murray couldn't help smiling.

He later said: The Pentagon is still immobile, but their courage is commendable. Another time, a group of black students occupied Ford Hall on the Brandeis campus, and hung a banner that read: Malcolm. X (Malcolm X, Annotation: American Black Civil Rights Leader) University.There is a chemical laboratory in Ford Hall, and some people in the school worry that these radical students are secretly making bombs in it.Murray didn't think so. He saw the core of the problem at a glance. These students were just trying to prove that they could not be ignored. The standoff, which lasted several weeks, was supposed to continue, but Murray was walking outside the building one day when a protesting student saw his favorite professor and yelled for him to climb in through a window.

An hour later, Murray climbed out of the window with a list of demands from the demonstrators.He handed over the conditions to the headmaster, and the standoff was finally resolved. Murray can always bring peace to people. At Brandeis, he taught classes in Social Psychology, Mental Illness and Health Care, Group Processes, and more.These courses don't have many so-called life-making skills, but they focus on personal development. Therefore, today's business management and law students may feel that Murray is too naive, and may ask: How much money will his students earn after graduation?How many profitable lawsuits have they won?

But having said that, how many business management or law students will go back to see their old professors after graduation?Murray's students often come back to visit their teachers.In the last few months of Murray's life, they all came back. Hundreds of students came from as far away as Boston, New York, California, London, and Switzerland. Some worked in large companies and some taught in inland cities.They called to say hello and wrote to express condolences.They drove thousands and hundreds of kilometers, specially came to visit him, listened to his words, and saw his smile. They all said with one voice: There is no other teacher like you.

◇◇◇ With my regular visits to Murray, I started looking for books about death and how various cultures view the final journey of life.There is an aborigine race in the polar region of North America. They believe that there is a small soul in the body of all things in the world, that is, there is a small deer soul in the body of a deer, and a small human soul in the human body.When the external body dies, the little soul is still alive. It may be reincarnated in the nearby area, or ascend to heaven to rest temporarily, and live in the womb of the Queen of Heaven, waiting for the moon to return it to the human world.

According to the folklore, sometimes the moon is busy dealing with these Xi souls who have ascended to heaven, so it has to take leave of absence from the sky and disappear, which is why the moon cannot be seen at some nights.But in the end, the moon will show up again, and we'll all be back. They have no doubts about it.