tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post112487075302790217..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: Researchers Perpetuate Cultural StereotypesMichael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1126197439332188292005-09-09T00:37:00.000+08:002005-09-09T00:37:00.000+08:00Just taking a peek on your other blogs Michael and...Just taking a peek on your other blogs Michael and wanted to say that I loved this post.<BR/><BR/>(By the way, there are two completely different systems of water rights in effect in the U.S., so the illustration is not only historically bogus as you pointed out but also currently bogus.)Stephen C. Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18239379955876245197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1125966898783230402005-09-06T08:34:00.000+08:002005-09-06T08:34:00.000+08:00The American traffic may look more orderly to you,...<I>The American traffic may look more orderly to you, but that's only because the kind of order that rules the Chinese traffic is unfamiliar to you.</I><BR/><BR/>Are you on crack? I've been living here since 1989! The "order" here is quite familiar to me, in my daily drive to work, in the dents and scratches on my vehicle, and in the body bags my students are brought home in periodically. Naive comparisons like yours -- "it's their order and its different from ours" fail to penetrate beneath the surface to ask what the two different types of 'order' mean and how they are experienced by the people who are in them every day (not to mention what they reveal about the structure of power in each culture). The "order" that prevails in Taiwan traffic is not a "harmonious" order, Jub. To give only one example, if the road suddenly narrows due to a car parked without regard for the needs of others -- a common practice here is that if enough room for one car is left, that is OK -- in the US and in Taiwan, in which country do people expect to take turns passing through the bottleneck? What does that reveal about the underlying expectations and definitions of "harmony" in each society? <BR/><BR/>MichaelMichael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1125963790262974242005-09-06T07:43:00.000+08:002005-09-06T07:43:00.000+08:00I can agree to several of your points here, but I ...I can agree to several of your points here, but I had to laugh when I came to where you compare Chinese and American street corners... The American traffic may look more orderly to you, but that's only because the kind of order that rules the Chinese traffic is unfamiliar to you. <BR/><BR/>I live in Italy where you'd think people get killed or hurt in the traffic all the time the way they drive. However, there are just as few accidents here as in Sweden where I come from and where city traffic runs similarly to the American. The Italians just have different ways of doing things. They have the same amount of control as Swedes and American have, but to the untrained eye it looks (and sounds!!!) like absolute chaos.<BR/><BR/>When in Italy, remember the unwritten rule: The red light is just a suggestion. Slow down, look around and make your own judgements. It's the traffic that decides (the big picture), not the lights (yhe details). Actually, it's stopping for red light like a good American (or Swede) that can get you killed.<BR/><BR/>JubbeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1125140963878890302005-08-27T19:09:00.000+08:002005-08-27T19:09:00.000+08:00Nisbett is well-known, but his methods are pure po...Nisbett is well-known, but his methods are pure pop-psych. Debunking this sort of pseudo-science is a waste of time. If you believe his analysis, you probably did before reading. But for those of a sceptical turn of mind, especially about modern shibboleths like race, it just doesn't hold water.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1125009115061692492005-08-26T06:31:00.000+08:002005-08-26T06:31:00.000+08:00I must not have been clear. It is NOT his findings...I must not have been clear. It is NOT his findings I am disputing. It's his monumentally naive, ignorant, and ethnocentric construction of them, full of demonstratable errors. The difference between the two groups in his study may well be due to culture, but his explanation is clearly wrong as it stands. <BR/><BR/>MichaelMichael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1124939349367120562005-08-25T11:09:00.000+08:002005-08-25T11:09:00.000+08:00Yet another lovely work of pseudoscience by social...Yet another lovely work of pseudoscience by social "scientist".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1124892230934701062005-08-24T22:03:00.000+08:002005-08-24T22:03:00.000+08:00Excellent analysis...I get exhausted trying to deb...Excellent analysis...I get exhausted trying to debunk then inscrutable asians who love harmony thesis - must be an offshoot of noble savage.<BR/><BR/>I especially like your "stand on a street corner" idea...an alien would come out with a different perspective for sure on each culture.Red Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699964464336470134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1124881096859779872005-08-24T18:58:00.000+08:002005-08-24T18:58:00.000+08:00I read this a little earlier today and thought to ...I read this a little earlier today and thought to myself what a load of.... Truly they didn't care to take other cultural intricacies into consideration. I often run into stereotypes here, people just assume that I must not be able to eat Chinese food. They think McDonalds is my food of choice. They assume that I can not cope with the delicacies of a Chinese family's interactions. Hogwash I say.Mr. Koalahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14221874987990946295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1124877414309181052005-08-24T17:56:00.000+08:002005-08-24T17:56:00.000+08:00Great post, Michael. I'm going to have my Intercul...Great post, Michael. I'm going to have my Intercultural Communication students read this when the semester starts.Jonathan Bendahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10697405682873882601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-1124872782644515812005-08-24T16:39:00.000+08:002005-08-24T16:39:00.000+08:00You are right on, Michael. Many Americans are so ...You are right on, Michael. Many Americans are so clueless about the culture of the US that they actually believe things like, "Relationships in America are simple." <BR/><BR/>Of course, it doesn't help that virtually the whole world says, "America has no culture." As they read translated (usually) American novels, watch American movies, eat American food, drink American drinks, wear American clothes...<BR/><BR/>I'm not claiming that US culture is superior, but it definitely exists, and is not inferior to other places' cultures.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com