Korean Job Discussion Forums

[butlerian]

"In [an East Asian country] everyone has clear obligations in a given context and you don't thank people for carrying out their obligations. Choice is not a high priority for most of the world's people. (An East Asian friend once asked me why Americans found it necessary to have a choice among forty breakfast cereals in the supermarket.) And Asians do not necessarily feel their competence as a decision maker is on the line when they do have to make a choice." (The Geography of Thought, Richard E. Nisbett, p. 49)

I find that paragraph very interesting as it has many ramifications for us teaching in Korea. The more we learn to understand things like this then the better we will be able to appreciate our time in Korea.

Also:

"...in the Western view, once a contract has been agreed to, it is binding - regardless of circumstances that might make the arrangement much less attractive to one of the parties than it had been initially. But to people from interdependent, high-context cultures, changing circumstances dictate alterations of the agreement." (p. 66)

Unfortunately, many of us are painfully aware of these "alterations"!

[xenok]

how is that book? i've been considering picking up that book for a while.

[butlerian]

[poet13]

When was that published? I'm thinking I may have it (likely just a similar title) back home.

[xenok]

ah crap. the first mention of the book i came across was in a technical article that briefly discussed the structural (i think) brain differences. so i thought the book might actually be a rigorous technical treatment this issue. i was worried it might be yet another socio-science book relying on loosely linked contextual evidence, anecdotes, etc. to come to very dubious conclusions. looks like your comments confirmed my worst fears.

i still might end up picking up the book but it definitely fell a few spots on my to-read list.

[butlerian]