Orn, Below is page one of a two page article from the NY Times that agrees with my assertion about the Japanese. By the way, I did not say that all eastern cultures produce few creative individuals. For example, the ancient Chinese were superb inventors. Here is a link to some information on the subject.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_inventions NY TIMES ARTICLE http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE0DA1530F93BA2575AC0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 TECHNOLOGY; Rebel Wants Japan's Inventors To Get Some U.S.-Style Rewards By JOHN MARKOFF Published: September 18, 2002 Ordered to stop the scientific research he thought extremely promising, Shuji Nakamura hid the work from his superiors at a Japanese chemical company. He secretly obtained patents in the company's name. Dr. Nakamura's mission paid off: his inventions revolutionized the world of consumer electronics. One helped make possible an array of products, from flat-panel computer screens to video billboards to long- lasting, efficient flashlights. Another will make it possible to store 5 to 10 movies on a single DVD-like disk. Dr. Nakamura has been celebrated in the United States as an innovative pioneer. But in Japan he is more controversial. After it was clear his inventions would make a lot of money, his bosses took them to market without additional compensation for him. So Dr. Nakamura sued the company, claiming that the patents were a result of his efforts and he should receive royalties. His case points to striking differences in the ways the United States and Japan treat innovators. In the United States, engineers and inventors often share in the corporate rewards from innovation, through employment contracts that specify royalties or other incentives like stock options. But in Japan, engineers and scientists are almost universally treated as ''salarymen'' who do not participate in corporate profits. Compensation for an invention is at the company's discretion and seldom amounts to more than $300. Dr. Nakamura's suit is challenging many of Japan's basic assumptions about conformity in a culture where personal gain or greed, particularly among technical people, is still considered distasteful. ''This case will have a huge psychological impact on Japanese business,'' said Paul Saffo, a Silicon Valley technology consultant. ''This goes to Japan's entrepreneurial soul.'' If Dr. Nakamura wins, an avalanche of similar suits may follow from Japanese researchers who believe they have been denied fair compensation from their inventions. ''This will teach researchers and companies alike to negotiate and make explicit rights and compensation in advance,'' said Joichi Ito, president and chief executive of Neoteny Company, a Japanese investment firm. ''This is great because it will help force technical people to think about business and companies to think about incentives.'' Dr. Nakamura, who is now in Japan awaiting the court ruling, is scheduled to receive an innovation award in absentia for his research from The Economist magazine in San Francisco on Wednesday. In an interview last week at the University of California in Santa Barbara, where Dr. Nakamura is director of the Center for Solid State Lighting and Displays, he said his case's becoming a cause célèbre in Japan was an encouraging development. ''Everyone wants to change our system,'' Dr. Nakamura said. ''The Japanese press likes me a lot but the problem is the Japanese government. It's very bureaucratic.'' Dr. Nakamura has long been a rebel in Japan's technology world. Although he got the go-ahead to work on his invention, known as a blue- light-emitting diode, or L.E.D., from the former chairman of the company where he worked, Nichia Chemical Industries, the company's president and its engineering managers bitterly fought his efforts because his research was seen as a cash drain. In the late 1980's Dr. Nakamura was such a pariah in his company that he hid both his seminal scientific papers and his patent applications from his superiors, making applications by approaching a new member of the patent department. His company found out about their star researcher's breakthrough only after Nichia sales executives were contacted by researchers from large Japanese companies who wished to purchase the blue-light-emitting diodes that Dr. Nakamura had been specifically ordered not to explore. ''They were furious with me because I was spending money in an area they believed we couldn't possibly compete in,'' he said. Officials of the company did not respond to requests for comment. His subsequent invention, in 1996, was a blue-violet laser, an invention that this year will bring a dramatic advance in the capacity of DVD's, On Jan 2, 8:51 pm, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > “Perhaps Japan has something to teach us, but they also have much to > learn. In the process of fitting in, the Japanese people, though > intelligent, lack creativity. They are good at reverse engineering and > improving products, but originallity is almost non existant. "The nail > that sticks out gets hammered down," describes prewestern Japanese > society and even now this approach is highly influential. I am glad > that I do not live in such a society….” – Ish > > While there is some truth in this, there have been experiments that > show that the actual way of apprehending differs between the cultures. > And, in some ways, things like ‘they..lack creativity’ is not even > close to reality. The same for other prejudices. > I have been studying the Eastern cultures in differing ways since the > 1950s and find much that is miles ahead of western mores and thinking… > and, of course, the reverse it true too. Overall, I have learned much > from these cultures. > > On Jan 2, 5:46 pm, Isparklaria <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Perhaps Japan has something to teach us, but they also have much to > > learn. In the process of fitting in, the Japanese people, though > > intelligent, lack creativity. They are good at reverse engineering and > > improving products, but originallity is almost non existant. "The nail > > that sticks out gets hammered down," describes prewestern Japanese > > society and even now this approach is highly influential. I am glad > > that I do not live in such a society. > > > As for the size of the universe, what has that to do with anything. > > The fact that we are the only known beings that can make a scale and > > measure shows that in some ways we are far more important than the big > > objects and long times we measure. > > > On Jan 1, 10:01 pm, "Jason (Memphis)" <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > > True. Perhaps we need to learn something from the collective societies > > > such as Japan. > > > > On Jan 1, 8:37 pm, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > ...as would most institutions in the West today. > > > > > On Jan 1, 5:57 pm, "Jason (Memphis)" <[email protected]> > > > > wrote: > > > > > > If hubris became a crime, the entertainment--especially rap music-- > > > > > industry and political system in the United States would collapse in a > > > > > day! > > > > > > Jason > > > > > > On Jan 1, 7:13 pm, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > It is said by many that megalomania is the worst state. Even in > > > > > > classical Athens, hubris was a crime. > > > > > > > On Jan 1, 11:28 am, stem cell <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > ...and God (god) made them all just for ME. > > > > > > > > On Dec 31 2008, 10:29 am, CrossBow <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Nice Marble Collection Orn! > > > > > > > > > check out this galaxy marble...just for fun:) > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 8:38 PM, ornamentalmind > > > > > > > > <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > > > > > > > I guess it is only a pic..not a vid. And, when it comes to > > > > > > > > > 'relative > > > > > > > > > size'...progressions and stars, try this one. > > > > > > > > > >http://www.physics.uci.edu/~observat/Physical_Scales.html > > > > > > > > > > On Dec 30, 7:54 am, CrossBow <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > >http://files.meetup.com/1339416/1204743767038.gif > > > > > > > > > > > this is a pic/vid with relative size of our solar system > > > > > > > > > > progressing to > > > > > > > > > the > > > > > > > > > > largest known star...borrowed from upload by Cory:) > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > > > > > gnothe se auton > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > > > gnothe se auton- Hide quoted text - > > > > > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Memphis Freethought Alliance" group. 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