Differences between Western and Eastern ThoughtThe chapter “ And In the Nature of Thought Is Not Everywhere the Same” analyzes the core differences between Western and Eastern thinking, detecting and making decisions. The chapter also embraces the issues of human relations, international relations, religion, fundamental attribution errors, etc. Moreover, the chapter provides practical research aiming to reveal whether it is necessary to focus on importance of own culture when measuring children’s skills. The central argument of the reading is that Westerners and Easterners behave differently because of different cultural and religion background. The author writes that it is rather hard for Americans to detect changes in the background, whereas Japanese people may fail to detect changes in the objects.
Here come differences in perception of scenes and objects. Apparently, Americans percept everything not as deep as Japanese people do. Further, Koreans are able to recognize the role of situational constraints in behavioral patterns, whereas Americans often fail to detect them. It is argued that Koreans associate the object with the group they are familiar with, whereas Americans attribute the object to the group the object should be assigned. One more difference is that Americans often polarizes beliefs, whereas Easterners tend to equally accept two opposing beliefs and to judge them soundly. It goes without saying that there are many aspects of life in which Easterners and Westerners behave differently and the difference is understood in terms of analytic vs. holistic thought.
The primary domains of differences are medicine, human relations, contracts, behavioral patterns, international relations, law, ethics, etc. for example, in Western world medicine is analytic and object-oriented, whereas in Eastern world medicine is more holistic and tends not to refer to surgery and other interventions. For Easterners, health is “ a result of a balance of favorable forces in the body”. (p. 193). In Western countries in the sphere of law the conflicts are known to handled by legal confrontations, whereas in Eastern countries the conflicts are settled down by intermediaries. Westerns view resolution of the conflict as satisfaction of justice and ability to distinguish who is right and wrong.
In contrast, in Eastern countries the goal of the resolution is to find compromise and to reduce hostility. Further, differences are also present in debate process. For example, Japanese view decision process as the way to avoid conflicts and dissonance, whereas in Western countries the goal of debates is to persuade the other side. The author argues that “ what is intrusive and dangerous in the East is considered a means of getting at the truth in the West”. (p. 195) Western rhetoric in debates involves background, problem, means of testing, arguments, refutation and conclusion. Such linear rhetoric form isn’t very popular in East. Westerners believe that a deal is a deal and after the bargain is struck it can’t be modified, whereas Easterners argue that agreements can be modified and changed.
This point often causes conflicts between West and East countries. International relations are also viewed differently in West and East. Speaking about human rights, Westerners believe that only one kind of relations between the state and the individuals can be allowed – individuals should be treated as separate units and state should provide individuals with certain rights and freedoms. Therefore, often we think that Easterners have no rights and opportunities. However, many Asian objectify Western behavior. For example, Westerns students are impressed by disorder, violence and sexual explicit in the USA. It is necessary to underline that very often Eastern children fail to perform well in American schools.
One of the possible reasons is casual analytic skills. The author argues that debate is one of the most effective educational tools being supported by non-Westerners, although debate training is paid less attention in American society. The conclusion is that ethnic diversity helps us to enrich educational and working environment. Diverse views and opinions are helpful in problem-solving and decision-making processes. The more cultures the more helpful recommendations.
