Which doesn’t fit in the following? Monkey, Panda, Banana.

The Geography of Thought discusses the fact that Westerners and Easterners answer this question differently! It is difficult to comprehend what it would be like to think of the world differently, and I seem to associate this with Qualia, but the author makes a convincing argument! Since I am of Asian descent, but grew up in a Western world, I can moderately relate to both forms of thinking, and I think it explains a lot of things about people I know.

The main idea is that Westerners objectify and become individuals, in contrast an Easterner will view himself in the context of his relationships within society. This leads to differences in thinking, such as in the area of contracts. An American contract is thought of as binding whereas an Asian one can be flexible to circumstances (such as renegotiating rates if the conditions change).

There is just the tip of the iceberg. The are a variety of experiments (too many in my opinion) that conclusively proves their point and this difference in way of thinking is expanded to consider how it impacts people’s action in the world. I thought this was a really interesting book, but that maybe because of my background.

Oh, and as a Westerner I would answer the question with Banana; but your born and bred Asian would say Panda! Easterners see the relationship between Monkey and Banana, while Westerners categorically eliminates Banana.

Posted by Kevin in Blogs Tags: chinese, reading