Summary of Video and the Article

Cultural Gaps


Cultural gaps occur between how Westerners, such as Americans, see the world and how Easterners, such as Japanese and Chinese, see it. Westerners see the universe as a set of isolated items, while Easterners see it as integrated and linked to everything else (Bueno, 2012).

For example, if American students are instructed to photograph their mates, they are likely to concentrate entirely on their colleague's faces, avoiding the surrounding atmosphere. Japanese pupils, on the other hand, are more inclined to look for a combination between their friend's face and the context atmosphere (Bueno, 2012).

Similarly, the reporting on an accident in the United States is only likely to report the immediate effects such as the people who were killed, and this reveals that Westerners view events individually. In contrast, accident reporting in China will also focus on other details such as the people delayed by the accident and by how many hours, and this reveals that Easterners see events as related to each other (Bueno, 2012).

Secondly


In the article "Asians, Americans Show Perceptual Divide," Schmid asserts that Westerners perceive objects individually while Easters see them as related to other objects.

For instance, if Americans and the Japanese are asked to look at pictures of underwater scenes and describe what they have seen, Americans are likely to concentrate on the most conspicuous objects while Japanese will first describe the background then mention the most conspicuous object (Schmid, 2005).

Reflections from Personal Experiences


The notion that western culture focuses on the oneness of events and objects as opposed to the wholeness view of the western culture has been evident in many previous experiences, and though I could not understand it then, I can now see the bigger picture.

For instance, Western and Eastern movies and films communicate the difference in the two cultures since while Western films portray a person as the hero, Eastern films present a community or a group of people as heroes. To illustrate, when I watched the American Film BraveHeart, I noticed that it portrays William Wallace as the sole hero of the movie who rises to prominence by opposing King Edward 1 of England. In contrast, the Chinese film Red Cliff retells the story of battles at Red Cliff and instead of celebrating one individual as the hero, it celebrates every individual who was involved in the battle. I now understand that the difference in how characters are portrayed is not a thematic variation but a reflection of how the two cultures see the world.

Besides, one of the ways I spend my time is in reading scientific journals on inventions, innovations, and ways to improve production and give customers outstanding value. During these occasions, I use articles from all across the world to expand my perspective, and therefore it has not escaped my attention that innovations and inventions in the western culture are attributed to individuals while in the eastern culture, they are attributed to a group of people or company. For instance, Steve Jobs is glorified for reinventing and improving Apple devices hence ignoring every other person who was involved while on the other hand, the invention of the Just in Time (JIT) is attributed to Toyota Corporation instead of a single individual. This illustration highlights that the western culture views the success of a company as a result of one talented individual while the Eastern culture focuses on the interaction of all the agents such as employees and partners which ultimately lead to an invention or innovation. Therefore, I agree with the point of view of the movie West and East and the article Americans Show Perceptual Divide since it resonates well with my personal experiences.


References


Bueno, C. (Director). (2012). West and East, Cultural Differences [Video file]. Retrieved August 21, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoDtoB9Abck.

Schmid, R. E. (2005, August 23). Asians, Americans Show Perceptual Divide. China Daily. Retrieved August 21, 2017, from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/23/content_471429.htm

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