Human beings, as a whole, have a predisposition to judge their surroundings the instant they perceive them. As we grow older, we tend to either give in to this predisposition, fail to notice it, or attempt to eliminate it entirely, opting to only pass judgement once we obtain a substantial amount of information. Regardless of how hard we try, however, we often cannot stop ourselves from subconsciously holding snap judgments which, often unknowingly, dictate how we will receive subsequent information. While this is not always a negative, we can see that in situations where our quick judgments are allowed to linger and solidify, despite being based on potentially lackluster- or worse, blatantly false- information, this reaction becomes dangerous and detrimental to a large group of individuals.
It was interesting to note the dichotomy of the main ideas presented this week, which were learning about broad classifications of culture and how they help us understand the world, an idea eloquently presented in chapter 3 of The Myth of Continents : A Critique of Metageography1, and the dangers of allowing those same broad classifications, or the perception of the “other”, to pass into unfair judgement of individuals, a concept covered in both the events of the Salem Witch trials as well as in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Danger of a Single Story2. It was a connection which was picked up by each discussing member, including myself, all of whom made connections between the guiding questions far more often than any week prior. It stands to reason, then, that to understand the factors which lead to cultural division, we must first focus on cultural perception.
Each member noted that there was certainly a distinction in the general perception and worldview of Eastern and Western cultures. To simplify, we noted how Western culture can often be about self and the material plane, whereas Eastern cultures often prioritize the collective and understanding the unknown. These are obviously quite broad strokes to paint regarding an incredibly nuanced topic, but even this surface level distinction is important in helping one understand the world around them. These differences in perception and culture can often lead to wonderful marriages of ideas and beliefs, with the ever-growing state of multiculturalism allowing us to broaden our experiences and share everything from religion to entertainment. For the latter, we can look no further than Sony, a Japanese company making wildly successful televisions, headphones, movies, video games, and more. Sony is one of the most well-recognized companies in the western world; the highest selling video game console in the west, for instance, is Sony’s Playstation, by a decidedly large margin over Microsoft’s Xbox3, a company located in the west. Parasite, a South Korean film, won multiple Oscar’s this past year, including best picture. Outside of entertainment, we can note that many major religions in the West, such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, which account for roughly 75% of the U.S. population4, can all have their origins traced back to the East, and certainly display typical Eastern values over Western ones. However, it does not take a much deeper look to notice that just as often, the intersection of cultures can lead to much darker outcomes.
An interesting observation from our discussion came from two individuals who encapsulated the idea of perception vs. division very well using an incredibly relevant cultural example. One mentioned the differences in how the Covid-19 pandemic was being handled by the East vs. the West, and noted that overall, the East seemed more inclined to wear masks, social distance, and stay indoors, due to their emphasis on the collective. On the other hand, the West seems to be struggling with this issue, with either late or premature decision making, and a lack of cohesiveness, resulting in cases in the west spiraling out of control as the east seems to be containing it more effectively5. This is a good example of how cultural practices and worldviews can affect different regions in different ways, and shows how this perception can be used to learn lessons and improve from. Conversely, another individual mentioned how, due to the virus beginning in the East, certain groups of people from the West felt threatened, and began to blame the East and dub the virus “the Chinese virus.” These points work as perfect foils to one another, with the latter point showing our impulse to judge rather than understand, and how it can lead to dangerous mindsets.
This sentiment of judgement based on a lack of accurate information is perfectly encapsulated in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Danger of a Single Story. The talk dives into the idea of judgement being posed on an individual based on a story or piece of information over which the individual had no control over, and yet will most likely effect them for the rest of their life. The first piece of information that an individual is provided with on a topic is crucial to how they will perceive that topic going forward, and if that small piece of information is allowed to solidify itself over time with no opposition, it becomes even harder to overturn. This is due to the fact that the first piece of information occupies a previously empty space in a persons mind, whereas subsequent, potentially contradictory information has to first remove the original idea and replace it with something entirely new. As such, we can judge races, cultures, religions, or any such groups based on our first, flawed, shallow understanding of them, and potentially keep these ideas forever. These ideas are then often imposed on individuals from those groups, leading to the judgement of a human being based on information completely unrelated to that person, and with that, we find the true danger in allowing cultural perception to become a cultural divide.
Division and judgement can be seen everywhere from the fear-mongering and hatred of “the other” found in the events of the Salem Witch trials in the 1690s, to the ongoing issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement of present day. The line between understanding cultures, how geography effects them, the origin of beliefs, and how they can be incorporated together to create a beautiful and diverse landscape, and the harsh judgement of these same cultures, viewing them as threats and unworthy of respect, is frustratingly thin. That is why it’s important to stay educated, understand the cultures around us, and discuss our opinions, and it’s of my belief that this week was a perfect culmination of why this class is important, and why we should continue to educate ourselves on these topics.
References:
[1] Lewis, M. W., & Wigen, K. E. (n.d.). The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/lib/ucalgary-ebooks/reader.action?docID=877899
[2] Adichie, C. N. (n.d.). Retrieved August 12, 2020, from https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en#t-518261
[3] Tassi, P. (2020, May 05). Just How Badly Did The PS4 And Switch Outsell The Xbox One This Generation? Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2020/05/05/just-how-badly-did-the-ps4-and-switch-outsell-the-xbox-one-this-generation/#246a34295b0c
[4] Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics. (2018, September 19). Retrieved from https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/
[5] Coronavirus Cases:. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
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