confucius says you take fucking responsibility
Reading Oliver James' Affluenza and this passage made me laugh.
One study presented Chinese and American four- to six-year-olds with two stories, as follows:
1. 'Little Bear watches his Mommy and Daddy catch fish. He really wants to learn how to catch fish by himself. He tries for a while but he cannot catch any fish. Then he says to himself, "Forget it! I don't want to catch any fish!"'
2. 'Little Birdie is learning how to fly. He jumps off a tree, but falls down to the ground. Daddy Bird and Mommy Bird bring him back up again. He tries again and again, and he falls down again and again. After trying many times, Little Birdie finally learns how to fly.'
Asked about these stories, the American children showed much greater interest in the methods by which Bear or Birdie could improve their performance, in the creative strategies that might work. By contrast, the Chinese children forcused on the virtue of concentrated persistence. Nearly all the children in both groups liked the Birdie after his valiant efforts. However, after the Bear story, nearly all the Americans liked him despite his failure, whereas nearly two-thirds of the Chinese said they disliked him, critical of his lack of perseverance.
I'm taking this "experiment" (and indeed the whole book) with a sack of salt, but the book - especially its chapter on China - did make me think about how many of my personality traits derive from my cultural background rather than, as I'd previously thought, more individualistic grounds. You can take the girl out of China at a young age, but you still can't take China out of the girl.
One study presented Chinese and American four- to six-year-olds with two stories, as follows:
1. 'Little Bear watches his Mommy and Daddy catch fish. He really wants to learn how to catch fish by himself. He tries for a while but he cannot catch any fish. Then he says to himself, "Forget it! I don't want to catch any fish!"'
2. 'Little Birdie is learning how to fly. He jumps off a tree, but falls down to the ground. Daddy Bird and Mommy Bird bring him back up again. He tries again and again, and he falls down again and again. After trying many times, Little Birdie finally learns how to fly.'
Asked about these stories, the American children showed much greater interest in the methods by which Bear or Birdie could improve their performance, in the creative strategies that might work. By contrast, the Chinese children forcused on the virtue of concentrated persistence. Nearly all the children in both groups liked the Birdie after his valiant efforts. However, after the Bear story, nearly all the Americans liked him despite his failure, whereas nearly two-thirds of the Chinese said they disliked him, critical of his lack of perseverance.
I'm taking this "experiment" (and indeed the whole book) with a sack of salt, but the book - especially its chapter on China - did make me think about how many of my personality traits derive from my cultural background rather than, as I'd previously thought, more individualistic grounds. You can take the girl out of China at a young age, but you still can't take China out of the girl.