Sep 21, 2008

east vs. west (miyako okuda)

"westerners pay attention to the focal object, while asian attend more broadly --- to the overall surroundings and to the relations between the object and field."

this reminded me about this story when japanese people watch a magic trick show, they try to see through the secrets behind the magic tricks. but when american people wacth that kind of show, they just enjoy that as just a show.
those things are interesting to me because geographical background make people think differently and moreover people see a thing differently.

1 comment:

Leslie said...

What a great show? or What on earth is behind that cloth?

I think people will have these different reaction after a magic show. As you said, I asked myself and found more than ten times I was asking myself how the magician did it whenever I saw a magic show.

People may set up different cognitive thinking in their mind because of their typical education, culture, background, or the way of thinking. Therefore, we should admit that there is reason why Asians are good at maths, and Europeans expert in art, etc.

We say education is one of the most prominent factors to affect people's thinking, that's why what kind of education system produces a certain kind of student.

Do you know why you are quieter than American students in the classroom? Ask your high school teachers.