Question 1
On page 138, the author says about that Greeks categorize things described by the same attributes and Chinese categorise things by thinking things influence one another through resonance. In your opinion, which way of categorization is closer to your and why do you classify that way?
Question 2
On page 140-141, Nisbett talks about the Eastern and Western ways of categorizations using some pictures. Here is one example that I made. If you were to categorize the following three into two groups, which two should be together?
【 A.Doraemon B.Nobita C.Gian(ｼﾞｬｲｱﾝ) 】
Explain why you categorized in that way and explain whether you consider that as the Eastern way or the Western way. I'm sorry if you were not familiar with Doraemon.
Question 3
Nisbett says Easterners depend on verbs and Westerners depend on nouns. On page 158, he compares how it is different when people offer more tea in two cultures to support his idea. Do you agree with his idea about verbs and nouns? Give specific situations like the tea example to support your reasons.
Group 6 Leaders:
Saki Goto
Leo Tsuruta
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI will answer to question 1.
ReplyDeleteI think I categorize things in Easterner`s way; to group things that are related to each other. For the example on pg141, I chose a cow and grass as the ones in the same category and a chicken on the other category. The first thing I look for when asked to categorize things may be whether they influence each other or not. Consciously or unconsciously, I think I do focus on relationships very much.
For Question 2
ReplyDeleteI would categorize A.Draemon in one group and B.Nobita and C.Gian in another group. Since Doraemon came from the future and he is not a human, I think he should be separated from the other. Moreover, there are more similarities between Nobita and Gian such as their age, gender, look, knowledge, and mechanism. Therefore, I would categorize Nobita and Gian together and Doraemon in a separate group.
Furthermore, I think this categorization can be classified to the western way of thinking. SInce my classification is based on common category of membership, I think its western way of thinking. In addition, if you have Eastern way of thinking, I think you would categorize Nobita and Doraemon together because they are protagonist, and they live together in one house.
To Yurika
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment & coming on Thursday!
You got the all point and meaning that I included in the question. Indeed, Doraemon is not a human so his(I would say "his" rather than saying Doraemon as "its")classification is different from the other two. It is interesting that you consider Nobita and Gian's age, gender, look, knowledge, and mechanism.
I think the way you categorized is the Western way since it is based on the type difference of human beings and a robot rather than considering the relationship between Draemon and Nobita. Like you wrote,Doraemon and Nobita live together in one house and rely on each other so they could be categorized in the same group and its the Eastern way
I will like to answer to question #1.
ReplyDeleteBy reading this book, I realized that I categorize things in the eastern way. On page 141, I categorized chicken and cow as a group, and the grass as another. I did this because chicken and cows are animals and the grass is just a plant.
Also, on page 143, I thought the flower belongs in group2. This is also the eastern way. The only thing that came up to my mind was the rule that all the flowers have a straight stem. In fact, it took me a while to understand why the Koreans thought the target object would belong to group1. I don’t know why my mind is thinking like the easterners way. It was really strange. My mind was just doing this without thinking deeply.
It was really interesting for me because, I didn’t know that westerners and westerners and easterners have a different way of categorizing things.
I guess the reason why I have the easterner way of thinking is because I was educated in America when learning words and think that being categorized by set of rules is important.
-Moeka
Question 1,
ReplyDeleteI think my way of categorization is closer to eastern way.
On page 141, I thought that a cow and grass are in the same group. The reason why I classified them is what Nisbett said. The cow eats grass but the chicken do not eat grass nor live in the place where grass grow.
On page143, I thought the target is in the left group, because its stalk is the same as the flowers’ of the left group. I was surprised to know the difference way of classifying between Eastern and Western. The point of view is different, so there may be conflict which happens because of the difference. However, the difference also may lead the various of ideas. It is interesting.
I am going to answer question2 :)
ReplyDeleteI will classify Nobita and Gian in the same group and draemon in another group. When I think about that, I do not think deeply but I just thought there was a big difference between Nobita, Gian and Draemon. This is weather they are human being or not. There may be lots of similarity between them such as only Draemon does not have hair or Nobita and Draemon live in the same house. However, I only considered a difference I stated above when I was reading the question. Therefore I guess I have a western way of classification. It is because I considered material itself and not the relation between them. I know that we can classify by its relation but I just think it is not strong difference enough to classify.
These questions are interested for me it is because I did not know that I have a western way of classification. In other words, I thought everyone classify things in same way.
To Haruka
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment! So you categorized Nobita and Gian in the same group because they are human beings. It is interesting that you mentioned about Doraemon does not have hair because I didn't come up with that idea when I made this question.
You found out that you have the Western way of viewing and categorizing. I think that is a valuable discovery.
I will comment on Question 2.
ReplyDeleteI categorized Doraemon and Nobita together, and Gian by himself.
I reached this conclusion by considering their social relationship between three people: the Eastern way of categorization.
As Yurika and Haruka mentioned earlier on their comments, Nobita and Gian are both human, and they share various features as human being.
However, I put more focus on their social relationship between Nobita and Doraemon, and Nobita and Gian.
Obviously, Nobita has a more closer relationship with Doraemon rather than Gian.
For example, Nobita often asks help for Doraemon, and Doraemon cares about Nobita in a great deal (Indeed, Doraemon came from the 21st century to change Nobita's miserable life in the future). On the other hand, Gian usually makes fun of Nobita and teased about Nobita (although in the movie, Nobita and Gian are often help each other to overcome their challenges).
These facts tell us that Doraemon is an extremely important friend for Nobita, while Gian is may be just a good friend of Nobita (or Nobita even sees Gian as a bully).
Therefore, based on the Eastern way of categorization, I put Nobita and Doraemon in one group, and Gain in another.
To Kanako
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. Your explanation about Doraemon is so great! I agree with the details you wrote about the relationship between Doraemon and Nobita is deeper than the relationship between Nobita and Gian. If I were to categorize them, I would put Doraemon and Nobita together for the same reason you wrote. And I agree that is the Eastern way of categorization.
Also I wonder why Nobita and Gian help each other as they are good friends in the movies although Gian beats Nobita in the normal Friday version...Well, that does not matter for this question.
I'll answer question 2.
ReplyDeleteI'd group them in the same way as kanako did....the Doraemon and Nobita pair seems the most natural for me.
I obviously have the "Eastern way of thinking", in Nisbitt's words, but if I were to group Nobita and Gian together, that would be "Eastern" as well, since they both are grouped on the basis of relationships.
I asked myself why I preferred to group Nobita and Doraemon together instead of Doraemon and Gian. I'm still quite unsure, but I'm guessing that I grouped them that way since the prior pair are the protagonists of the story. I'm not saying Gian is completely evil and cruel, but on the surface, he seems like the antagonist. therefore, it seems the most natural for me to group Nobita and Doraemon together, in term of similarity in the type of character.
But the funny thing is, if I'm grouping them this way, in terms of whether they are pro/antagonists.....this seems like a "western way of thinking". Does it mean I have a "western way of thinking" inside an "eastern way of thinking".....?!
Anyway, overall I don't really agree with Nisbitt's approach to how it's possible to divide eastern/western views simply by testing with pictures. I strongly think that there must be countless otehr factors than "relationship" V.S. "basis of common category membership" as reasons to group two pictures together.
Naoko
For Nozomi Shiraishi:
ReplyDeleteFor question 2
Like Kanako, I categorized Nobita and Doraemon in the same group. They are the main character in the story and they appear in the story more compared to Gian, which makes Gian not the main character of “Doraemon”. This story “Doraemon” is about Nobita growing up to be a good man with help of Doraemon, so that makes those two closer in relationship than Gian. I also thought that Gian bullies Nobita and Doraemon takes side of Nobita, so that divides Gian from Nobita and Doraemon into different groups.
I thought I categorized them in Eastern way, because I focused on relationships rather than categories. I have thought of categorizing Gian and Nobita in the same group because they are human and Doraemon is a robot from different time, but I decided to group Doraemon and Nobita together because they are closer in relation.
To Naoko
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, which is really thought provoking. It is interesting that you accept both DoraNobi and NobiGian groups are Eastern way of categorization since both of them have considerable relationships within characters.
Grouping them by whether the characters are protagonists or antagonists could be the Western way because in that way, you are only looking at their positions, not the inside. I realized that everyone has different view for deciding whether DoraNobi group is Western or Eastern.
And I agree with you that Nisbett is
oversimplifying about the process of categorization too much.
To Nozomi Shiraishi
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. That is true that “Doraemon” story is about Doraemon who supports Nobita for his future and Gian is a side character. When I watch Doraemon, I could see the relationship between Doraemon and Nobita more frequently than that of Gian and Nobita. Sometimes Nobita and Gian do help each other, but those are very rare cases. Furthermore, there are few cases that Doraemon supports Gian instead of Nobita. So I think Doraemon and Nobita in one group is very understandable.
For question #1
ReplyDeleteI think that my categorization is closer to the Eastern way. In the example that Nisbett gave in this chapter, where he asked whether the chicken or the grass would go together with the cow, I preferred the grass would go with it. I also considered the possibility that the chicken and the cow were similar in terms of them both being animals, but rather than that category, I thought that the eating and being eaten relationship between the cow and the grass were more stronger. Also, in the example of panda, monkey and banana, I thought that the monkey and the banana were more closely related for that same reason. I suppose this is because normally, when I picture a certain animal in my head, I don’t imagine any other kind of animals with it. If I were to picture other objects at the same time, I would have the surroundings of that animal. In the case of cows, I would imagine green grass, the blue sky, milk cans and some breeze. I would definitely not have any chicken in that picture. Therefore, when choosing from two options that would go together with one object, I would think of more of the relationship between them instead of the similarities in their physical features.
I will answer question 2.
ReplyDeleteI categorized Doraemon and Nobita in one and Gian the other. This is the eastern way, I guess, but this really didn't take me time and consideration. It is obvious to me that Nobita and Doraemon is one set, no matter what kind of background both of them have. I mean if you've read all those Doramemon stories, which is over 1000, you will get the idea that those two are inseparably bound up with each other. I would be surprised if a person who had gone through the stories, whether eastern or western, categorized differently; this is a matter of reflexes.
I think this is case-by-case, it differs by the knowledge we have about it. This time, I did not consider the robot-human connection, but if I only had the basic knowledge and had no passion for Doraemon, I might have considered it as a choice and gave few minutes to think about it. I did categorize in the eastern way, but I am not convinced that I am so, with this one question.
Now, let me pinch-hit and paste Ryohta's comment, who seems to have the same problem he had a week ago.
ReplyDeletePlease reply to him, when needed.
I’m going to answer question 2
If I were to categorize these three characters into two groups, I would categorize Nobita and Gian in the same group. First of all Doraemon is not a living creature, it is a robot which came from future. Also, Nobita and Gian go to school while Doraemon does not. In addition, Nobita and Gian rely on other people’s help when they get into trouble. I think relationship between characters is important but I also think personality and backgrounds are more important. Therefore my categorization is classified western way of categorization.
From Ryohta Kurosu
2011年6月5日17:44
To Yuta
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. So you think Nobita and Doraemon are so inseparable that Nobita and Gian should not be in the same group, even though NobiGian are human beings and Doraemon is a robot. I think so too, because when I came up with this question, I thought nobody would categorize Nobita and Gian in the same group because I could not think of Doraemon and Nobita being separated. However, I’m now surprised that some people put Nobita and Gian together.I realized that everyone has different opinion and view.
What if there are Doraemon, Nobita, and Dorami-chan(Doraemon’s sister) and you have to categorize them into 2 groups? Do you think Doraemon and Nobita still should be together?
To Ryohta
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. So you don’t consider Doraemon as a living creature. Indeed, Doraemon is not a human, but I think he is still living because Doraemon has minds and emotions. Also Doraemon eats food although I’m not sure if he really needs to eat food,does he? He gives such a big damage to Nobi family’s budget…Anyway, I am impressed that you mentioned about school, which Nobita and Gian go there while Doraemon don’t. Maybe Nobita spends much time with Gian at school as well as with Doraemon at home. Many kids spend time with their friends more than with their family. It is interesting how you consider the importance of backgrounds of characters.
Question #2
ReplyDeleteI would put Doraemon and Nobita in one group and Gian in the other. This is because I know the story of "Doraemon". In the story of "Doraemon", Nobita is in close relationship with Doraemon, they live together, Doraemon helps Nobita with his tools, and they seem to be great friends. On the other hand, Gian is friends with Nobita and Doraemon, but the relationship of Nobita and Doraemon seems to be closer than that of Nobita and Gian. (Even though Gian likes Nobita for the fact that he always asks Nobita to play baseball.)
I think this classification is the Eastern way because it focuses on the relation of Doraemon and Nobita. However, when read this section, I classified the chicken and the cow in a group (the Western way). For that reason, I think how people classify items into groups depends on the items that we are classifying. (I don't think that westerners ALWAYS classify things in western ways and easterners in eastern ways.)
To Yukie
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. So you put Doraemon and Nobita in one group. It true that Doraemon helps Nobita with the tools and that affects their relationship to become deeper.
I agree with you that not all Easterners classify things in the eastern way. That is because by now, some students have used the eastern way and others used the western way for Question 2, although all students in the class are Easterners. I think our personalities and backgrounds cause our classification more than what geography we live in.
I would like to answer Question 2.
ReplyDeleteI categorize Doraemon and Nobita together and I think this categorization is Eastern way. I looked up the relationship between three people (one machine and two human) to get this answer. Doraemon and Nobita lives in a same house and share more time than with Gian. Nobita and Gian is friends but I think Doraemon and Nobita is more like family and their relationship seems much stronger than relationship between Nobita and Gian.
Furthermore, I think that some stories of Doraemon can be done without Gian but Doraemon and Nobita cannot be. I think Doraemon and Nobita is main factor of the story, the story cannot be made without them, and Gian is important but it is like a spice that makes the story interesting.
However, I think that even I put Nobita and Gian in same group, that would be Western way of categorization because I also consider the relationship between them.
Anyway, I think my way of categorization is Earstern and consider the relationship between objects.
To Yumi
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. You say “some stories of Doraemon can be done without Gian,” and that is true. Also, sometimes in extremely rare cases, stories are even done without Doraemon. But I don’t remember any story that happens without Nobita, so I think “Doraemon” stories cannot be carried out without Nobita. Maybe for this reason, Doraemon and Gian could be in a group because sometimes they don’t appear in the stories.
By now, 6 people have categorized DoraNobi in one group, and 3 people have categorized NobiGian in one group. I wonder if anybody would categorize Doraemon and Gian in one group and give a convincible explanation.
I m sorry for commenting this late:(
ReplyDeleteI m going to answer for question 2.
I would categorize Nobita and Doraemon in the same group and Gian in the other.Because like many people mentioned,they are both main characters in the story and are both protagonist.So apparently,I have "Eastern way of thinking".
However, I think this kind of categorization depends on who are on the list. If there were Dorami on the list, I would categorize Doraemon and Dorami in the same group and Nobita and Gian in the other. Because One is non human and the other is human. This would be "Western Way of thinking".
To Nanako
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. I think many people chose DoraNobi together because they are the protagonists of the story. The categorization depends on the characters is the western way, but also it could be the Eastern way as well. Because you focus on the character, you are looking at the inside of the person or characteristics. Doraemon and Dorami-chan could be in the same group because they are closely connected since they are good brother and sister.
This is from Nozomi Otaki:
ReplyDeleteI would like to answer Q#1. I think I have Westerner's view about categorization. Concerning the example on Page141, I group the cow and the chicken into the same group because they have a similarity in that they are animals. I tend to try to find out similarities when grouping something.
I was a little confused with this result because I had been "Easterners" before this topic, according to Nisbett. However, I guess I have both "Westerner-like" and "Easterner-like" nature in myself.
#3
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with Nisbett's idea because this tea example does not suffice the difference. It is not convincing enough to claim that one depends on which just because there are two different expressions.
The English expression for drinking, "have a drink" can be categorized as an emphasis on verb. On the other hand, in Japanese, it is not unnatural at all to ask "how about a cup?" for inviting someone to drink and this is focused on the noun.