I read a great article in the May 11th issue of Forbes magazine. The article focused on a university professor, Richard Nisbett who does research on the thought processes of East Asians and European Americans.
According to Nisbett, Americans and East Asians view the world quite differently. He set up an experiment using a virtual aquarium on a computer screen. East Asians tend to focus on the background whereas Americans focus on what stood out, the biggest and brightest objects.
East Asians focus on context, while Westerners focus on the point at hand. Asians tend to be collectivistic, Westerners individualistic. Each culture has its own strengths and weaknesses. And we’ve got a lot to learn from the way other cultures think and see the world.
It’s amazing to me how much we don’t know about the brain and the way people think.