It can be hard to identify differences that are so completely suffused in a culture that they are invisible. A grad student named Jim Stigler was studying learning styles in Japan when he saw something remarkable. The student who was completely baffled by the task of drawing a two dimensional image of a cube was called up to the board to demonstrate. Stigler was anxious. He had grown up in the States, where the accepted protocol is to have the best student come up to the board. Making an example of a kid who is struggling is considered cruel. He held his breath, expecting the boy to burst into tears from the sense of shame. But with the support of the class the child finally figured it out. The class broke into applause.
Failing was held as an opportunity, rather than a blemish.
One way this underlining belief plays out is in perseverance. There was a study where teachers gave an impossible task to a group of American students, and to a group of Japanese ones. The kids from the west gave up after thirty seconds. Why keep trying? It is too hard. The students from the east kept working for an hour, when the researchers told them to stop.
Although I do not know if the divorce rate reflects tenacity in eastern cultures, I am curious. The divorce rate in the United States is highest right out of the gate. Not thirty seconds, but if I compare a seventy year union to a nine inning baseball game, players a quitting in the top of the first. Have we as a society convinced ourselves that when things are hard, we are in the wrong marriage? Better to bail than waste time trying.
I for one am ready with my hands to clap madly.
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