Chi and XX

Last night we had dinner with with Xu family at 2 Blake. We live at 24 Blake at the opposite end of the street. Blake Court is not the most neighborly of neighborhoods, but last night's dinner with the Xuses countered the trend. Xiaochiang and Selena are from mainland China. Both are non-citizens, but their 6 month old son, Gordon, is a red-blooded American by birth. He is very good natured and, Selena says with conviction, "very smart." We don't doubt it. Xiaochiang and Selena are smart, too. Selena is an accountant with an import/export firm in LA that conducts trade with China. Gordon's dad, whose supercool initials are XX, is an assistant professor in the medical school. Over a delicious homemade meal that included seaweed soup, we discussed international trade, currency exchange, politics, and the world economy. At some point, our conversation shifted to kung fu and tai chi (complete with an awesome demo by Gordon's grandpa). Xiaochiang knows a lot about the Chinese martial arts, their underlying philosophies, and the value of these traditions for promoting health. I was fascinated, but through it all I wanted to know what Xiaochiang thought about chi--the Chinese word for universal energy that flows through our bodies. Given his dedication to the advancement of science, did he think chi was real? Xiaochiang seemed to discredit stories about instant diagnosis or healing by chi gong masters, but I could not tell what he believed about chi itself. Even now, I still wonder: Is chi a real entity? If the existence of chi were confirmed it would present a major challenge to Western science--more so, I believe, than to monotheistic faith. No doubt the universe holds mysteries that, once discovered, will shake our current assumptions. We need not fear: Truth that is strange is still truth. Earthshaking ideas? Bring them on.