Stress!!!

This world is filled with stressors!!! But, as we talked about in class, different cultures have different stressors and ways of coping with stress. This link will take you to a research paper on differences between American and Chinese stress. It was probably created for those involved in cross-cultural business relationships who need some advice. Take a look!

Speaking of Time...

Last week we had a, shall I say, fierce conversation about a concept that governs our lives as Americans - TIME!!! This video describes some interesting observations about cultural differences in time. I don't agree with everything stated in the video, but it is interesting to hear different viewpoints about which "time-mind-set" is better: past, present, or future. I'd say a little bit of past and future and a whole lot of present creates a nice combination. I believe that the narrator in this video has a somewhat extreme and parochial view of present and future oriented people. This is probably because I have a different definition of present-oriented people than him.

His definition: present-oriented people only think about what is going on at exactly that moment in time (now) and never think about what will happen in the future or what their actions will bring or whether they should do something in order to change something about the present and make it better in the future. In this way they will often make mistakes or bad decisions that lead to negative outcomes.

My definition: present-oriented people have a strong tendency to "live-in-the-moment" by absorbing their current surroundings and appreciating the life around them. They do not worry about the future, but they are aware of what current events may bring or cause. Present-oriented people do not stress about the future, nor do they mourn about or regret the past. They rarely feel a need to hurry or be "pressed-for-time"because time is either a foreign concept to them or it is less important than embracing the moment.

By his definition, present-oriented people SUCK. They often have no morals, they are selfish and they always make mistakes. On the other-hand, his definition explains the EXTREME idea of present-orientation: the idea that all you think about is the present. Under this definition, I would agree that present-oriented people suck, but I would also point out that hardly any people in this world are examples of this extreme present-orientation, they only are somewhat present-oriented and partly future-oriented because they usually are aware of what present events will bring, making them (by his definition, not mine) somewhat future-oriented. If it is true that, by his definition, there are almost no totally present-oriented people in this world (with the exception of some small and isolated cultures), it is unfair to apply this concept to ALL people that display A LOT of present orientation but not ONLY future orientation, which is what he was doing. Therefore, his example of an extremely present-oriented teenage girl (representing ALL people that are only MOSTLY present-oriented by his definition) getting pregnant because she was not thinking about how unprotected sex may lead to a pregnancy can not be accurately used in an argument that all present-oriented people are worse than future-oriented people. He fails to recall his own example of future oriented people being more prone to heart disease and spending less time with their family, less time with their friends, and less time sleeping.

By my definition, present-oriented people ROCK. They are peaceful and happy and they love to absorb life in all of its richness and beauty. Also, just to be clear about what I mean by present-oriented people, they are only oriented around the present. 

My definition of orient...

Orient: to familiarize oneself with or relate to

Therefore, they don't shield their mind to the past or future, but they accept and are aware of the past and future, but embrace the present and expend their mind and body into the present. In other words, they familiarize and relate themselves to the present (hence the idea of being present-oriented).

So yeah, I'm right and he's wrong... well, about that part of the video at least. I did agree with him about other things though, but I feel less of a need to explain those because, well, there's no argument to be made... unless YOU disagree with me.... *raises eyebrows suspiciously*... Ok, so I'm not actually that egotistic but my fingers are tired from typing and I have other homework to do. Sooooo... thanks for reading this novel-like post and I hope you have a lovely day! Now I am going to bed... Zzzzzzzzz..........

Culture Colors!

look! different cultures have totally different perspectives on colors! 

Interesting site on cultural issues...

This website was created for counseling purposes but it was interesting to read because, while the content itself wasn't exactly anything new, it made me think about how uninformed many people are about cultural differences. It's a little scary!!! 

Watch those peace signs!!

Go to this link: Cultural Differences in Body Language