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In his book The Geography of Thought, Richard E. Nisbett outlines some of the fundamental differences in the ways Easterners and Westerners think. He says one of the key differences is that Westerners tend to think of things in terms of objects and their properties. Easterners view things in relational terms. Thus Easterners are well-equipped to understand how we are affected by our environment or to seek harmony in two forces that seem to be opposed. Westerners are very good at categorizing and dealing with abstract concepts, but we don’t naturally understand interdependencies between things very well.

He also points out the differences that manifest themselves in the way we deal with conflicts. The Western justice system is very categorical and clear-cut. Two opposing parties present their case; one is judged right and the other wrong. This method is seen as harsh and inflexible to Easterners. How foolish to think that one side is completely right and the other completely wrong! The Chinese justice stresses the value of resolution. The two parties bring their dispute to an arbitrator who decides the best compromise to make between the two opposites. Only when harmony has been achieved can justice be served.

Nisbett spends time wondering what the effects will be of these two ways of thought being brought in contact with each other. He rejects the idea that they will remain separate and polarized as well as the idea that one of them will dominate. Instead he proposes that each culture will absorb the best part of the other, and both will prosper from their newly widened worldview. He cites many instances of Easterners adapting to Western thought patters, especially in crucial areas like education. Also mentioned are examples of Westerners taking up Eastern practices such as yoga, tai chi, and Buddhism.

This is a nice thought. It would be great if both cultures could better themselves in such a fashion. However, I believe it contradicts what Nisbett has put forth earlier in his work. Nisbett describes how the Eastern method is to find a ‘middle path’ between two opposite ways, while Westerners try to find which of the ways is best and pick it.

With that in mind, perhaps a different outcome should be expected when these two systems are brought into contact with each other. First of all, what Nisbett suggested about Eastern cultures adopting Western values is hard to argue with. It’s pretty self-evident if you just take a look. Not only on superficial ‘coke and MTV’ levels either; it’s not uncommon to see debate being focused on in Eastern schools. That would have been unheard of without Western influence. Easterners are serious about looking for a middle way. They see the two extremes of East/West, and they try to meld the two, bringing out each one’s good as much as possible. They seek a resolution between two opposing forces.

However, the other side of Nesbitt’s conclusion is less convincing. True to Western thought, it seems we have little consideration for melding these two mindsets. Chalk it up to that world-famous American arrogance or simply a lack of exposure, but I have failed to see much evidence of Westerners adopting Eastern ideas. The examples Nesbitt gives are either trendy (wearing clothing sporting Chinese characters), superficial (taking martial arts without understanding the underlying philosophy), or so extreme that they no longer constitute a blending of ways but an acceptance of one with a rejection of the other (Westerners going to Buddhist monasteries in the Appalachians). Westerners rarely seek the Tao.

That said, The Geography of Thought is utterly brilliant. I’d recommend it to any person who plans on interaction between east and west. Well, any Westerner, that is. Easterners seem to be doing pretty well at that without a handbook on the subject. =D

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The Uberman Sleep Schedule is a very interesting idea. Basically the idea is that when you sleep, most of your time is wasted reaching REM time, and REM time is the only bit that your body really needs.

If you can train your body, it’s possible to drop straight into REM sleep by careful use of sleep deprivation. If you can force yourself to sleep 30 minutes every 4 hours, your body will learn after a while to drop straight into REM sleep.

You actually get more REM sleep this way than by an 8-hour sleep as normal, and people report feeling healthier this way. And all the extra time you have, well you better make sure you have a lot of things to do.

I may give this a try over summer when I have more control over my daily schedule. Obviously not everyone’s life has the flexibility to be able to do this. But if you can, it’s pretty enticing. Apparently Leonardo Da Vinci and Thomas Jefferson both used this trick to get the most out of their days.

Some people are blogging Uberman. Looks interesting.

If I end up doing this, I’ll keep a log on here. Should be fascinating. Sleep dep is always fun…. =D

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This site has been going through the changes.

Jon Clede wasn’t kidding when he said CSS was worth learning. The sooner you learn it, the more pain you’ll save.

Back to a good blog system.

Some day I might go transfer all the old blog posts into this new system. That might be a while—I have to get a steady database server first.

Forum up again. Go ye therefore and post.

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LOL! Somebody’s trying to crack my web server. What a joke. Good thing I don’t run Microsoft IIS.

Here’s what they tried… and

in more detail.

The funniest part is reading
Microsoft’s advisory on the hole. "The vulnerability can only be
exploited if a web session can be established with an affected server." LOL! Way to try to sound positive.
‘Oh, good, they’ll only be able to gain complete control over my web server if they can actually establish
a connection with it! Then I should be safe, considering I run Microsoft programs! My uptime is so miniscule
that the chances of that happening approach nil!’

They never cease to amaze. And I don’t mean that in a positive sense.

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Domains are cheap: philisha.net

And this is just too good to pass up. Biola is href=’http://www.biola.edu/undergrad/journals’>getting freshmen to
blog! Hear about all their freshmeny escapades and deep
Dot’s-Poetry-Corner-Worthy musings. Should be fun.

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This is too cool.
Monks selling laser printer cartrides.

The reason this is so cool is that it proves integrity can still mean business. The business of selling imaging supplies is
infuriatingly choked by corruption. Most companies charge exorbitant prices on ink or toner, because they know once a customer has
laid down the cash to buy their brand of printer, they’re locked in. There’s nothing they can do but suck it up and ooze out
the wasted cash. Just to show you how bad the situation is, in a recent year, the Ink division of HP made more profit
than the other top 4 divisions combined. That’s bloody extortion, no matter how you put it. Good way to make quick money,
especially if you don’t care about usury or any of that ilk.

This has always really infuriated me for reasons that seem obvious to me. The fact is, the entire industry can be put to
shame by a bunch of monks who simply stand by the policy of not screwing over the customer. It’s pretty encouraging to me
that this can still happen in America.

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‘With a good enough lawyer,
I can do anything in beautiful America.’

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Today I just tried to get a modem connection to href=’http://www.singnet.com.sg’>Singnet. First of all, their
dial-up authentication is completely non-standard. Instead of asking
for a username and password, it spews out a bunch of random
characters. Wow, that’s really helpful. If I ever needed an object
lesson on why it’s important to stick to standard procedures, tonight was
it. Trying to connect to Singnet is like banging your head against a
concrete HDB block. It may not help the situation, but at least you’ll feel
better about it. Oh no, wait, you won’t.

The final insult is the so-called ‘technical support’ pages. With such
brilliant insights as ‘Are you sure you have the right password?’ and ‘Remember, the
username goes in the box titled ‘username’, and the password goes in
the one marked ‘password’.’ Well, yeah, but how about if somebody
competent has a question? Geez. It’s a pity people still have to put
up with dial-up…. PPP is a cheap hack.

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