"i don't fully grasp the kiswahili language. but to me it doesn't seem unrelated to english."

of course they are both languages, and they are both spoken by people. but to make any assumptions as to their use or their purpose without KNOWING kiswahili is ignorant.

you CAN make a statement about the above concerning english and spanish because they ARE so very related. but in dissimilar cultural contexts, an assumption poses BIG problems when trying to understand something "foreign".

again, it is classic western arrogance that allows its constituents to make bridges from THEIR ideology to OTHERS without even knowing the first thing about the unfamiliar subject.

you say you don't fully know about CHI, but make statements that align it with something within YOUR system. it's like me looking at the japanese charater for evil and then saying it is just like the american concept of Christianity... i CAN find similarities when looking at the history of that religion, but it would be inaccurate in light of the many positive things about christianity. (?!?!? did I just say that?!?!? anyways...)

it's not wise to make a statement based on partial knowledge. tis better to have patience until you come full circle with your understanding.