Lesson 20 East Versus West东西方观念和思维的差异classmates chime in.同学插话。
That kind of collectivism confirms the commonly held belief that learning by organic induction is more effective than rote memorization.这种集体主义证实了有机归纳学习比死记硬背更有效的普遍信念。
Why do you find, in a music conservatory, a lot of Asian would-be concert pianists but comparatively few Asian opera-singers-in-training?为什么在音乐学院会有很多想成为钢琴家的亚洲人，而受训的亚洲歌剧演员却相对较少?There's a physical limit to how many hours a day a person can sing, Nisbett says, but not to how many hours one can practice sonatas.尼斯贝特说，一个人每天唱歌的时间有生理上的限制，但练习奏鸣曲的时间没有生理上的限制。
He attributes these differences to history.他将这些差异归因于历史。
East Asian agriculture was a communal venture in which tasks like irrigation and crop rotation had citizens acting in concert.东亚农业是一种公共事业，其中灌溉和作物轮作等任务需要公民协同行动。
In contrast, Western food production led to more lone-operator farmers and herdsmen. 相比之下，西方食品生产导致了更多的孤独的农民和牧民。
Greek democratic philosophy emphasized the individual; the Reformation stressed a personal connection to God; the Industrial Revolution made heroes of entrepreneurs. 希腊民主哲学强调个人;宗教改革强调个人与上帝的联系;工业革命造就了企业家的英雄。
But in Asia, Confucius said virtue hinged upon appropriate behavior for specific relationships, say, among siblings, neighbors or colleagues.但在亚洲，孔子说，美德取决于对特定关系的恰当行为，比如在兄弟姐妹、邻居或同事之间。
These tidy generalizations are not without critics.这些整齐的概括并非没有批评。
A San Francisco State University professor who edits the Journal of Cross-Culture Psychology'', David Matsumoto, holds that while Nisbett attaches his observations to fascinating raw data, he takes some conclusions too far.旧金山州立大学(San Francisco State University)教授、《跨文化心理学杂志》(Journal of Cross-Culture Psychology)主编大卫•松本(David Matsumoto)认为，尼斯贝特将自己的观察结果与引人入胜的原始数据结合起来，但他的一些结论有些过头了。
"In cross-cultural work researchers are too quick to come up with some deep, dark, mysterious interpretation of a difference with no data to support it," Matsumoto says. "It's difficult to draw one conclusion [from] a snippet of behavior, and that's what this work tends to do."松本说:“在跨文化研究中，研究人员在没有数据支持的情况下，总是急于对差异做出一些深刻、黑暗、神秘的解释。
”“很难从一个行为片段中得出一个结论，而这正是这项研究的目的。
”Though Nisbett believes our behaviors are shaped by 2,500 years of history, he also thinks they are malleable.尽管尼斯贝特认为我们的行为是由2500年的历史塑造的，但他也认为它们是可塑的。
"I got interested in whether you could make people better at reasoning and problem-solving by certain kinds of education, and it turns out you can," he says.他说:“我感兴趣的是，是否可以通过某种教育，让人们在推理和解决问题方面变得更好，结果证明是可以的。
”If Americans are asked to think about how they are similar to other people they know, they view the aquarium scene more like Asians—and vice versa.如果美国人被问及他们和他们认识的人有什么相似之处，他们会更像亚洲人看待水族馆的场景，反之亦然。
"So these things aren't necessarily locked in."“所以这些东西不一定是固定的。
”When it comes to cross-culture business, Nisbett observes, East Asians want to establish relationships, while Westerners tend to keep their business connections at arm's length.尼斯贝特观察到，当涉及到跨文化的业务时，东亚人想要建立关系，而西方人则倾向于保持他们的业务联系。
Westerners operate by the exact wording of a contract, while East Asians hold that if circumstances change, so should the agreement.西方人按合同的措辞行事，而东亚人则认为，如果情况发生变化，协议也应随之变化。
Marketers, of course, are aware of culture differences.营销人员当然知道文化差异。
For the same phone, Samsung emphasized contrasting messages: In the U.S. the message was "I march to the beat of my own drum," whereas in Korea the ad campaign focused on families staying connected.对于同一款手机，三星强调了对比的信息:在美国，广告的内容是“我按照自己的节奏前进”，而在韩国，广告的重点是家庭保持联系。
But Nisbett noticed shifts within the Asian cohort last year, after he observed a group of Chinese students at a Procter & Gamble focus group.但尼斯贝特去年观察了宝洁公司(Procter & Gamble)一个焦点小组的一群中国学生后，注意到亚洲学生的变化。
"My goodness, they were as lively as any group of American graduate students I've ever had. If I said something they didn't agree with, they let me know.... I would never, ever feel that way with Japanese or Koreans, who are more concerned with harmony," he says.“天哪，他们和我遇到的任何一群美国研究生一样活跃。
如果我说了他们不同意的话，他们会让我知道……我对日本人和韩国人永远不会有这种感觉，他们更关心和谐。
"I think the Chinese will be more successful than the Japanese have been because theyhave that sense of obligation to family, but they're also going toget this more Western attitude of wanting to succeed as individuals."“我认为中国人会比日本人更成功，因为他们对家庭有责任感，但他们也会获得一种更西方的个人追求成功的态度。
”Perhaps, Nisbett speculates, the personal drive one sees in Chinese entrepreneurs is a consequence of China's one-child policy.尼斯贝特推测，人们在中国企业家身上看到的个人动力，或许是中国独生子女政策的结果。