[Platt] I wonder what the word for "individual" is in Chinese. [Arlo] This "useful convention" (the "self") is a stable part (and result) of collective activity. But for an interesting aside, consider this from a Cornell study on self-concept, "Contrast of U.S./Chinese memories shows impact of culture on 'self-concept'".
"Americans often report lengthy, specific, emotionally elaborate memories that focus on the self as a central character," said Qi Wang, an assistant professor of human development at Cornell. "Chinese tend to give brief accounts of general routine events that center on collective activities and are often emotionally neutral. These individual-focused vs. group-oriented styles characterize the mainstream values in American and Chinese cultures, respectively." http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/01/6.28.01/memory-culture.html The short reporting of this study concludes as such. ""These findings indicate that cultural differences in autobiographical memory are apparently set by early preschool years and persist into adulthood. They are formed both in the larger cultural context that defines the meaning of the self and in the immediate family environment," Wang concludes. "The self and autobiographical memory are intertwined not only within an individual but also in the overarching cultural system."" -------------------------- "This fictitious "man" has many synonyms: "mankind," "people," "the public," and even such pronouns as "I," "he," and "they." Our language is so organized around them and they are so convenient to use it is impossible to get rid of them. There is really no need to. Like "substance" they can be used as long as it is remembered that they're terms for collections of patterns and not some independent primary reality of their own." (Pirsig, LILA) Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
