The discussion for the book of month October 2008
Posted by bangkokbookclub on November 12, 2008
“The Geography of Thought” by Richard Nesbitt
The author sets out to explain some of the differences in the way Easterners and Westerners think by tracing the origin of these processes to their geographical locations. Some of this is quite compelling (Western thought – analytical, Eastern thought -relational; Western thought – the needs of the individual (individuality) valued above the community/group (conformity), Eastern thought – the needs of the community are valued over individuality/autonomy). By the end, though, most bookclub members felt that his theories were too generalized. Readers also felt that the research experiments were far too small to be extrapolated into broad cultural theories.
One member (a teacher) said that this book may be helpful to Western trained teachers working with Asian children.
Regards,
Terri and Sharda
