Book Review – The Geography of Thought (Differences between East and West and the Possibility of a Third Culture)

Richard Nisbet’s The Geography of Thought analyzes the differences between Eastern and Western ways of thinking and suggests that these differences could lead to the formation of a new third culture through the fusion of different cultures. However, there is also a risk of losing one’s own culture in the process.

 

The book I read this time is The Geography of Thought by Richard Nisbet. In eight chapters, the social psychologist explains the differences between Eastern and Western thought using empirical data. In doing so, the author, a social psychologist, validates what we know about the differences between the two great cultures, and teaches us how to learn from them.
Chapter 1 covers the differences in social structure, philosophy, and scientific thought processes that result from the differences in the origins of Eastern and Western cultures. Western culture originated in ancient Greece. Ancient Greece was a society that valued individual autonomy, analyzed and categorized the properties of individual things, and understood philosophy and science based on the immutability of the properties of things. Eastern culture, on the other hand, originated in ancient China, a society that emphasized relationships between individuals, and was characterized by an understanding of philosophy and science based on the harmony, change, and continuity of the relationships between things.
Chapter 2 explains the differences between Eastern and Western conceptions of self. The West emphasizes one’s uniqueness within a group and is characterized by strong independence and direct speech. Easterners, on the other hand, see themselves as part of a group, place a high value on interpersonal relationships, use indirect language to avoid offending others, and, unlike Westerners, are good at reading other people’s minds.
Chapter 3 discusses the differences in how the East and West explain the world. The West focuses on the individual elements of things, emphasizing their characteristics and attributes, and sees changes in the world as linear and believes they can control them. The East emphasizes the holistic aspects of things, views change in the world from a cyclical perspective, and tends to accept rather than control change because it is complex rather than simple.
Chapter 4 explains the differences in how we view the causal forces of change. The West has a strong tendency to attribute phenomena to the properties of one factor. When looking at a murder, for example, we are likely to make the basic attribution error of ignoring the power of context by focusing on internal attributes such as the personality of the perpetrator. However, this is unlikely to lead to an overconfidence bias. On the other hand, Asians believe that phenomena should be viewed in a multifactorial way, so when looking at a murder case, they not only consider the personality of the perpetrator, but also external factors such as economic conditions and social connections. This makes them less likely to make the basic attribution error, but because they consider multiple factors, they are more likely than Westerners to suffer from overconfidence bias.
Chapter 5 describes how the East values relationships between things and the West values rules and categorization of things. These differences stem from differences in upbringing and language culture. The East emphasizes relationships, while the West categorizes things according to their properties.
Chapter 6 explains the difference between Eastern and Western logical thinking. The West emphasizes logical judgment over content and believes that things should be consistent even when they change. The East, on the other hand, relies on empirical facts rather than logical judgment, accepts that phenomena can change due to many factors, and thinks it is wise to accept contradictory situations.
Chapter 7 analyzes the origins of the differences in thinking between the East and the West in terms of factors such as environment, social structure, and economy.
Finally, Chapter 8 suggests what we can learn from the differences in thinking between the East and West, and argues that the cultures of the East and West will converge towards the middle.
I agree with the author and believe that the cultures of Eastern and Western people will eventually converge into one. This is because humans are imitative animals. We look at other people, admire them or look down on them, and imitate their behavior. This behavior starts early in life and continues to this day, and it’s a survival strategy. We imitate family members at home, forming similar patterns of thought and behavior. This is similar in peer groups, communities, and countries. For example, it was once popular among middle school and high school students in South Korea to wear “The North Face” puffer jackets, and puffer fashion became a culture. In other countries, it might be difficult to understand why students would wear hiking clothes. However, Korean students are comfortable with it because they are part of the same culture and have developed similar thought processes and behaviors through imitation.
This cultural unification is not limited to within a country. Similar thought processes can also be found among countries with different cultures. According to the book, countries in the East and West go through the same cognitive and thought processes and exhibit similar behaviors. In Eastern countries, contradictions are accepted rather than denied, and this is especially evident in areas where overconfidence bias is present. For example, China has a standing culture where shoes are worn indoors, but its thinking system is similar to that of South Korea. I think this is a result of different cultures imitating each other. Korea has a long history of borrowing Chinese characters from China and embracing sexology as a premier discipline. This influence has shaped Korean thinking and behavior patterns to be similar to those of China. Of course, disciplines such as Confucius and figures such as Confucius are products of the Eastern way of thinking, but the process of adopting this way of thinking has also been a process of imitation.
In this respect, Korea is likely to develop into a society with a diverse mix of cultures beyond Westernization. Korea has a long-standing tendency to look up to Westerners, which is why most store signs and university student organizations are written in English. The “cosplay” culture, where people dress up as popular Western actors and movie characters, is another example of this trend. In recent years, cultures from other countries, such as Southeast Asia, have also become increasingly accepted. Just as the term “yowker” was coined for businesses targeting Chinese consumers, more and more businesses are targeting Southeast Asian consumers, and signs in their languages are becoming common, as well as imitations of Southeast Asian foods such as rice noodles and Indian curries. South Korea’s culture is increasingly blending diverse cultures, a trend that will only become more pronounced as globalization continues.
This cultural unification has several advantages. First, it allows us to better understand other cultures and similar ways of thinking. The book explains that the West uses direct speech and the East uses indirect speech. This causes Westerners to feel frustrated by Easterners’ speech, and Easterners to feel disrespected by Westerners’ speech. When cultures are unified, they can understand each other’s speech patterns, reduce negative feelings, and find a middle ground between the two cultures. Second, there will be more exchanges. For example, in the “sugar contract” between Japan and Australia, when the price of sugar went down, Japan proposed to renegotiate the contract, and Australia did not accept it. This stems from the difference between the West’s adherence to universal rules and the East’s flexibility to respond to situations as they arise. If cultures are unified and the way of thinking is aligned, these problems can be reduced, and exchanges will become more active. Third, there will be fewer conflicts between countries. Of course, the spread of nationalism or white supremacy can lead to increased conflict, but cultural unification will reduce conflict because people can understand and respect each other’s cultures.
However, there are also problems with cultural unification. There is a risk of losing Korea’s unique culture. Currently, English is used more than Korean on store signs, and the names of student organizations at universities are mostly in English. People are also wearing fewer hanboks for holidays and more dresses and tuxedos for weddings. This can be attributed to the influence of Western culture on Korea and the gradual loss of Korean traditions. Also, with the emphasis on individuality, it has become common to see people not giving up their seats to pregnant women or the elderly on buses and subways, and the Japanese phenomenon of “hikikomori” is now being seen in Korea.
I believe that this cultural unification will lead to the formation of a third culture that finds a middle ground between Eastern and Western cultures and maintains its uniqueness. According to Darwin’s theory of evolution, the frequency of genes in a population changes depending on the environment, and species that are adapted to the environment will survive, while those that are not adapted will decline. Therefore, ensuring genetic diversity is important to maintain species in a changing environment. In the book, we only mentioned the East and the West, but there are many more cultures in the world. The fusion of these different cultures will create a third culture, which will be stronger in a changing world. New ways of thinking can be stimulated by different cultures, and no one culture will be dominated by another. However, I believe that protecting and developing one’s own culture in the midst of mixed cultures is the way to increase a country’s competitiveness.