Comments on: I'm in New Scientist: "Beyond east and west"

By: Tony Jeremiah

Tony Jeremiah — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:52:32 +0000

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. "Different societies make one option seem to make the most sense at any given moment," says Oyserman. But instead of dividing the world along cultural lines, we might be better off recognising and cultivating our cognitive flexibility. Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument

By: Hank Roberts

Hank Roberts — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:16:22 +0000

Have you read Nakamura? http://books.google.com/books?id=sePiBcehtYcC&dq=ways+of+thinking+of+eastern+peoples&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=FTrPY2LKJf&sig=t9UHNkULx5AJhbG7DXMc-T3GmbY&hl=en&ei=gOqzSZCKLJKasAPZ8dyHAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result http://www.nous.org.uk/Nakamura.html

By: James Dean

James Dean — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:39:34 +0000

Congrats! I’m 100% behind anyone fighting senseless stereotypes.

By: HolfordWatch

HolfordWatch — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:44:03 +0000

Congratulations on the New Scientist piece – it is well worth seeking out a copy.

By: Sandeep Gautam

Sandeep Gautam — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:09:26 +0000

Ed, I disagree profoundly. I wanted to post here, but the comments required a blog post. you can read my comments(sorry for some harsh comments) here. http://the-mouse-trap.blogspot.com/2009/03/cultural-differences-are-vodoo.html

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:24:47 +0000

I’m a psychology student from the west, living in the east, so this article was fascinating for me. Lucidly written, I can well imagine it did take a horrendous amount of work Ed, much appreciated!
I often struggle to see the “collectivist” mindset in the western-influenced Asian societies where I’ve lived, and a lot of the cliches based on Confucian values seem much eroded in modern Asia. Sometimes I suspect the East has become hyper-Western, taking the competitiveness of the West, for example, to an extent that’s not experienced in western countries – maybe because we’ve seen its consequences and had to learn balance.
It would be interesting to see some studies on the changing mindsets between Asian cohorts in countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

By: Wim

Wim — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:57:31 +0000

Nice, but watch out with that journal! They might do a “Ed Yong was wrong” cover somewhere in a distant future.