Excited
When I was growing up, my dad liked to talk about how Americans and Asians thought differently. He always referred to it as right brain versus left brain thinking. As an immigrant he of course had Asian thinking, while his three children who grew up in America, had American thinking. As a scholar, my dad had even gotten to the point of writing a reflective book about it, but never got it published before he passed away.
Apparently, scientists have also been pursuing this as a real difference between the ways Asian (Eastern) brains and Western brains process information. A recent article discusses this phenomenon and started by discussing researcher Richard Nisbett from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a study he did in 2001. A short explanation from the article:
East Asians tending to group things according to how they relate to each other and Americans tending to rely on shared features. When shown pictures of a chicken, a cow and some grass, and asked to decide which two objects belong most closely together, for example, most American kids choose the chicken and cow, since they are both animals, while Taiwanese children tend to group the cow and the grass together because one eats the other …
Westerners appear to perceive the world in an analytic way, narrowing their focus onto prominent objects, lumping them into categories and examining them through logic. Easterners take a more holistic view: they are more likely to consider an object’s context and analyse it through its changing relationships with its environment.
This sets an interesting stage, one that many of us already assume as true, which is that Asians think differently and process differently than Westerners. But what’s interesting is the same article goes on to disprove this theory, saying we’re really more alike than we’re different. That our context actually affects the way we think. Asians think holistically because we tend to be in group settings, but Westerners tend to be individualistic. The article then discusses a study using “priming”, making an Asian test subject think about individualistic tasks (e.g. playing singles tennis), and found that afterwards, the person thought and processed with a more individualistic style, showing any person can think either way.
Here’s the conclusion:
Clearly, the dichotomy between holistic eastern and analytical western thinking is more blurred than the stereotypes suggest. … We all flip between different modes of thought depending on social context… What is clear is that the minds of east Asians, Americans or any other group are not wired differently. We are all capable of both analytic and holistic thought.
So maybe we weren’t as different in the way we think as my dad believed. And that’s also what’s been going through my mind these past few months, reflecting on the loss of both my parents. As much as I had conflicts with my dad, as I get older, I find myself doing things I know he would do, thinking about things the way he would. I know I’m not turning into my dad, and I have some comfort in knowing we’re not as different as I once thought we were.
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AmeriKKKa wrote:
What is pure “chinkology”?
You’ve taught thousands of Asian kids in Asia, did u refer to them as “Chinks” too?
NO, dummy, Chinkology is the study of the mysteries of the Oriental race by the all-knowing whtieman. With a username like Amerikkka you couldn't figure out what I meant? Dumbass.
AmeriKKKa wrote:
What is pure “chinkology”?
You’ve taught thousands of Asian kids in Asia, did u refer to them as “Chinks” too?
NO, dummy, Chinkology is the study of the mysteries of the Oriental race by the all-knowing whtieman. With a username like Amerikkka you couldn't figure out what I meant? Dumbass.
Westerners appear to perceive the world in an analytic way, narrowing their focus onto prominent objects, lumping them into categories and examining them through logic. Easterners take a more holistic view: they are more likely to consider an object’s context and analyse it through its changing relationships with its environment.
This is pure "chinkology". What makes the Western view "analytic" and "logic"al as opposed to the Eastern view? What makes him think the Eastern view isn't the more logical of the two? It seems the argument could easily be made that way as well. I'd also like to see his sample size of children and their backgrounds. I've never seen a kid lump cow and grass together instead of cow and chicken and I've taught thousands of Asian kids in Asia.
Westerners appear to perceive the world in an analytic way, narrowing their focus onto prominent objects, lumping them into categories and examining them through logic. Easterners take a more holistic view: they are more likely to consider an object’s context and analyse it through its changing relationships with its environment.
This is pure "chinkology". What makes the Western view "analytic" and "logic"al as opposed to the Eastern view? What makes him think the Eastern view isn't the more logical of the two? It seems the argument could easily be made that way as well. I'd also like to see his sample size of children and their backgrounds. I've never seen a kid lump cow and grass together instead of cow and chicken and I've taught thousands of Asian kids in Asia.
Great topic. Here's some literature about "the brain, east and west":
How the brain unites us all, Ed Yong (article in Science),
The East-West Dichotomy, Thorsten Pattberg,
The Master and his Emissary, Iain McGilchrist.
The Geography of Thought, Richard Nisbett.
Great topic. Here's some literature about "the brain, east and west":
How the brain unites us all, Ed Yong (article in Science),
The East-West Dichotomy, Thorsten Pattberg,
The Master and his Emissary, Iain McGilchrist.
The Geography of Thought, Richard Nisbett.
"whtieman" ??? what the hell is that? I'm assuming you're not a Whiteman either, since you can't even spell it correctly!
White Power!
"whtieman" ??? what the hell is that? I'm assuming you're not a Whiteman either, since you can't even spell it correctly!
White Power!
"NO, dummy, Chinkology is the study of the mysteries of the Oriental race by the all-knowing whtieman. With a username like Amerikkka you couldnu00e2u0080u0099t figure out what I meant? Dumbass. "
But but but dummy...I googled it and used Wikipedia and there's no such thing as Chinkology. Oriental Race? I didn't know there was such a thing, where I live there's only race boxes for White/Black/Asian/Hispanic/and Native Americans.
I think you're just making it up, dipshit!
"NO, dummy, Chinkology is the study of the mysteries of the Oriental race by the all-knowing whtieman. With a username like Amerikkka you couldnu00e2u0080u0099t figure out what I meant? Dumbass. "
But but but dummy...I googled it and used Wikipedia and there's no such thing as Chinkology. Oriental Race? I didn't know there was such a thing, where I live there's only race boxes for White/Black/Asian/Hispanic/and Native Americans.
I think you're just making it up, dipshit!
AmeriKKKa wrote:
What is pure u00e2u0080u009cchinkologyu00e2u0080u009d?
Youu00e2u0080u0099ve taught thousands of Asian kids in Asia, did u refer to them as u00e2u0080u009cChinksu00e2u0080u009d too?
NO, dummy, Chinkology is the study of the mysteries of the Oriental race by the all-knowing whtieman. With a username like Amerikkka you couldn't figure out what I meant? Dumbass.
AmeriKKKa wrote:
What is pure u00e2u0080u009cchinkologyu00e2u0080u009d?
Youu00e2u0080u0099ve taught thousands of Asian kids in Asia, did u refer to them as u00e2u0080u009cChinksu00e2u0080u009d too?
NO, dummy, Chinkology is the study of the mysteries of the Oriental race by the all-knowing whtieman. With a username like Amerikkka you couldn't figure out what I meant? Dumbass.
What is pure "chinkology"?
You've taught thousands of Asian kids in Asia, did u refer to them as "Chinks" too?
What is pure "chinkology"?
You've taught thousands of Asian kids in Asia, did u refer to them as "Chinks" too?
Westerners appear to perceive the world in an analytic way, narrowing their focus onto prominent objects, lumping them into categories and examining them through logic. Easterners take a more holistic view: they are more likely to consider an objectu00e2u0080u0099s context and analyse it through its changing relationships with its environment.
This is pure "chinkology". What makes the Western view "analytic" and "logic"al as opposed to the Eastern view? What makes him think the Eastern view isn't the more logical of the two? It seems the argument could easily be made that way as well. I'd also like to see his sample size of children and their backgrounds. I've never seen a kid lump cow and grass together instead of cow and chicken and I've taught thousands of Asian kids in Asia.
Westerners appear to perceive the world in an analytic way, narrowing their focus onto prominent objects, lumping them into categories and examining them through logic. Easterners take a more holistic view: they are more likely to consider an objectu00e2u0080u0099s context and analyse it through its changing relationships with its environment.
This is pure "chinkology". What makes the Western view "analytic" and "logic"al as opposed to the Eastern view? What makes him think the Eastern view isn't the more logical of the two? It seems the argument could easily be made that way as well. I'd also like to see his sample size of children and their backgrounds. I've never seen a kid lump cow and grass together instead of cow and chicken and I've taught thousands of Asian kids in Asia.
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