Tunnel Vision in Western Thought?

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by S.A.M., Oct 27, 2009.

  1. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    How would you address the subject on its own terms? By dissociating it from all other forms of segregation, ethnic cleansing and colonialism?

    You may be interested in a book called "The Geography of thought"

    Does western thinking suffer from tunnel vision?

    Are they unable to make holistic connections in thought? Can they simply not see the big picture?
     
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  3. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    Does eastern thinking suffer from over generalization? Can they simply not spot what's important and focus on that?
     
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  5. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Like what? Give me an example of what is important that they are generalising due to loss of focus? The economy? War on terror?

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  7. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    We have that saying as well and it's used often to describe things that happen in my society.

    On a side-note: I found this allegory describing the saying.

    "There is an old Native American joke: a man was walking by with two buckets full of crabs. Every few feet, the man would have to stop and put back in the crabs that had climbed out of one of the buckets. He didn’t have the problem with one of the buckets, the crabs all stayed in. But the crabs in the other one just kept getting out. Someone watching asked why one bucket of crabs stayed in and the other one didn’t. The man replied, “One is a bucket of white crabs. They climb on each other and get to the top and over the edge. The other is a bucket of Indian crabs (”In-dans” to us, “native Americans” to you). Everytime one of the crabs gets up a bit, another one pulls him back down to the bottom.”"
    http://dangerousintersection.org/2006/12/07/if-women-ruled-the-world/#comment-9014

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  8. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    We have the same allegory in a different form.

    Q: Why don't jails in India worry about prisoners escaping?

    Ans: Everytime a prisoner tries to escape, the others pull him back in.

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  9. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    But but.. then you agree that its not a good thing to cut down the tall poppy?
     
  10. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Because?
     
  11. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    The white crabs get out by cooperating while the Native American crabs pull each other down and never achieve anything.. (I don't mean to be racist here, I'm just following the analogy).
     
  12. Grim_Reaper I Am Death Destroyer of Worlds Registered Senior Member

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    The bucket of Indian Crabs did not want to go anyware or do anything cause they get there Welfare check on a regular basis.
     
  13. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    And what do the white crabs achieve?
     
  14. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    They get out..

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  15. iceaura Valued Senior Member

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    No.
     
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2009
  16. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    By making it unique? By looking at distinguishing rather than common features?
     
  17. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    Is this yet another book you haven't read but are making fallacious statements about?
     
  18. quadraphonics Bloodthirsty Barbarian Valued Senior Member

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    Is a rhetorical question premised on a misreading of a science text a sufficient cover for racial bigotry?
     
  19. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Hmm what is racial bigotry? Seeing common trends or distinguishing features?

    This may be an interesting window to racial bigotry btw. Does looking for distinguishing features increase susceptibility to bigotry?
     
  20. iceaura Valued Senior Member

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    Try introspection - it works better than rhetorical questions addressed to the exasperated.

    Otherwise, an interesting example of racial bigotry might be the Iroquois underestimation of the threat posed by the appearance of a different tribe of Whites on the Atlantic coast.

    Having long despised the short, sickly, rotten-toothed, incompetent, and truth be told bad-smelling and ugly variety of inexplicably rich and only occasionally dangerous people who had camped on the beach for over a century without ever managing to independently feed and house and equip themselves,

    and having made no effort to investigate, let alone adopt, the cultural features of the dirt-encrusted, sexually crabbed and perverse, miserably toiling citizenry of those shithole beach "towns"

    the Iroquois simply overlooked the possibility of a genuine threat, a competent and competitive tribe of those people showing up inside Iroquois territory.

    So was that western tunnel vision, on the part of the Iroquois? They were certainly "western" people.
     
  21. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    So the Iroquois lost because they did not expect the white men to be different from what they already knew and had seen and were content to leave alone?
     
  22. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    You tell me, you are as western as any of us.
     
  23. Grim_Reaper I Am Death Destroyer of Worlds Registered Senior Member

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    The Iroquois lost because they brought a knife to a gun fight. And yes they did not see the big picture however they are descended from the Asian influence as they migrated over the land bridge from Asia to north America.
     

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