1) In a case of murder like p.111, which way would you consider, the Asian way (situational factors) or the Western way (attitudes and traits)? Give reasons for why you think that way.
2) When dealing with historical events which do you prefer, the Japanese way (emphasizing the historical person's feelings) or the American way (emphasizing the outcomes)? Give reasons to support your answer.
3) On p.120 Nisbett states that "Americans regard personalities as relatively fixed and Asians regard them as more malleable." Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons to support your answer.
Group Leaders:
Chisato Nakao
Uka O'hara
Hanna Otani
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2.
ReplyDeleteI prefer the Japanese way on emphasizing the historical person's feelings. This is because I don't remember much of what i studied in the U.S. However, when I came back to Japan and studied more of how people felt about the history and the processes of the outcome, I remembered more. Because I was able to relate to the historical persons' feelings, I was able to remember more because the impressions of it were stronger than just learning about the outcomes of an historical event.
(3) There are some reasons why I am unsure about this statement. In his opinion Asians, as Nisbett has commented on in the previous chapters, have a trait of choosing harmony over individualism. Preferring harmony over individualism can hinder people who may want to change their personalities. For example, a naturally shy person who tried to be more outgoing can be looked upon as acting strangely by other members of his community. Harmony can easily lead to an attitude of not accepting those things that are not part of the group that people belong to, or does not follow the rules of that community.
ReplyDeleteIf Asians considered personalities as being more malleable, which means to be easily influenced or changed, I think people would accept that people are different more naturally. In any school, there is usually a problem with bullying, and the people who are bullied are usually people who are different from others in ways that the others cannot understand. Once people judge you to have certain qualities, it is very hard to change their opinions. People usually try to look good when they meet another person for the first time, because they know that they will be judged by how they look and the way they act, and also that those judgments will stand for a long time.
People try to organize what kinds of people others are by placing them in contexts that they can comprehend easily. This process happens almost automatically and whenever you meet someone, and it can be called a stereo-type of a sort. Placing “tags” on people to try to understand what kinds of people they are is useful at times, because you would be able to draw on your past experience with the same kinds of people to decide how to deal with them. However, these “tags”, for example, like “kind”, often does not show what the other person’s personality is, but at its best shows that that person took actions which you interpreted to be kind. The ambiguity of the meaning of words can also hide the other person’s true nature. I’m pretty sure that most people have had an experience with this. This process is seen not just in people from Western backgrounds, but daily in Japan as well, and these “tags”, once made, are hard to change, since they are made both consciously and subconsciously. I think that this is a self-defense mechanism born out of the fear of the unknown.
(This continues on from the above. I couldn't post the entire comment at once. I think there's a limit on how many letters you can use.) There are many companies (and colleges) that use interview sessions as part of the entrance exam. These interviews last for short periods of time, and the candidates are asked some questions that they must answer on the spot. Maybe some people have had interviews like this before coming to ICU. These interviews are usually used not to judge how well the candidates can do on a particular subject, but to learn more about the candidates’ personalities. I believe it is impossible to get to know a person well enough to decide whether that person is a good choice for whatever the candidate is applying for in such a limited time. Do you think you can get to know a complete stranger’s personality that well, even if you had information about his likes and dislikes beforehand? I think that people are more complex than that, which may be a kind of thinking slightly on the Eastern side. You can get to know people so well that you think there is nothing more to learn about them, and one day, they will still surprise you with actions that you had not expected. However, these types of interviews are used regularly by many Japanese companies. What those candidates are like is decided on that several minute meeting, where they might not have been acting like they normally do, but instead acting on their beliefs about the expectations of the inspectors. If Asians understand that people’s personalities are malleable, their ways of thinking should have an effect on things like this.
ReplyDeleteI’m also rather unsure about in what way Asians consider people’s personalities to be malleable. If Asians think that they are malleable in the sense that people’s personalities are shaped to fit the community, this doesn’t contradict what Nisbett has said about the Asians preferring harmony over individualism. However, I think this particular process of shaping the personality usually happens when you are still young, and is instilled in you when you do not notice it. If this is the case, this process happens naturally in any part of the world, including America, and the Asians’ way of thinking cannot be said to be special. If Asians believe that personalities can change after the initial process is over, it contradicts what we see in real life, as introduced in the above.
3. I agree with Nisbett’s statement that Americans regard personalities as relatively fixed whereas Asians regard them as more malleable. Many Japanese might be good examples for that. Practically, they are like chameleons whose skin colors are easily changed depending on the surroundings and situations. Those have many different faces so that I sometimes get perplexed because I cannot figure out who they really are while Westerners are easier to understand as their characters relatively stay stabile so that I can count on them at least.
ReplyDeleteEspecially, some Japanese women certainly do it very skillfully, which sometimes makes me gobsmacked, on the other hand, I applaud those with some admiration. For instance,
they behave like cutie pies when some boys (probably cute ones) are around them. Even their voices suddenly transform into beautiful soprano whereas their voices normally remain deep alto or even deeper when they are with the same gender or with their families. Not only their voices but also their way of speaking or behavior can change very quickly.
However, I reckon that something might have happened during the progress of the evolution on the sociopolitical basis that Easterner, also ancestors of those women had to adapt to it in order to survive in the society.
>>Emi Arakawa
ReplyDeleteI also think that the Japanese way helps students memorize historical events more too. I have never tried this way of learning so I was very surprised to know that the Japanese learned history this way. It also sounds like history class wil be more interesting if it is taught this way. I have forgotten most of the historical events I had learned so I wish I had learned them the Japanese way.
>>Yuto
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a long comment! I was so surprised to see two comments from you.lol
I am not sure if I understood your comments fully, but I got the idea that you were confused with the word malleable? I was sort of confused too. As I read the lines in p.120 a few times, however, I thought maybe Nisbett is trying to say that East Asians tend to change their personalities or ways of acting according to the situation they are in. Once I thought that way, it made sense to me. Like there is a word called "nijuujinkaku" in Japanese, I think that Japanese people( I do not know about Chinese people or Korean people) tend to change the way they behave by the people they are with more then the Americans. For example, the typical Japanese person would probably behave differently from when they were at school and when they were at home. They change(or maybe hide) their personalities to keep the harmony with others. Most Americans on the other hand usually say their opinions regardless of who they are with, which makes it less likely for them to change their personalities.
Also, I think that job interviews are beneficial because it is important for the companies to know what kind of first impressions the interviewee gives. If the interviewee is hired, the company will be known by the impressions he/she makes.
I am not sure if I made any sense. Sorry if I did not.
>>Ryoko
ReplyDeleteI could not help smiling when I read your comment!:)
I could not agree with you more. I had lots of difficulty too finding out what Japanese people really meant. I was also very surprised at how "skilled" some Japanese girls were when I came back to Japan . It was such a surprise to know how some of them acted when boys were not around. They are called "burikko" in Japanese so just now, I tried to look up the translation in English but their was not a word for it and it had to be described in a phrase.
>>Yuto
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a long comment! I was so surprised to see two comments from you.lol.
I am not sure if I clearly understood what you were trying to say. I got the idea that you were not so sure about how Nisbett used the word malleable? I was also confused about what he was trying to say, but as I read the lines on p.120 a few times more I gradually came to think that he meant changes in personalities as in changes according to situations. Don't you think Japanese people tend to change the way they act according to who they are with and where they are? For example, I think that the typical Japanese person would behave much differently form when they were at home and when they were at school. I think they end up chaning their personalities because they want to be part of the harmony. They end up bending their opinions to match the group's opinions, and as a result, they end up changing their owm personality. Most Americans on the other hand do not try to bend their opinions, or maybe do not feel the necessity to do so. Therefore, they end up keeping their own personalities. I personally think that the American way is better because it is tiring for the person who changes his/her personality
according to the situations to make up a personality. I think their company would not appreciate it either.
Also, I think that job interviews are beneficial even if interviewers can not fully get to know the interviewees. This is because it is important for the company to know what kind of first impressions the interviewees make in front of people they have never met. The impressions that the interviewees make will naturally become the impression of the company if they decide to employ him/her. Therefore, I think job interviews are oppurtunities where companies look for someone who makes impressions that fit the impression they want to make.
To Emi Arakawa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the fact that by relating to the historical person's feelings, it enables us to remember more. By learning more deeply about the information, we are able to think from different points of view, which makes us have a clear understanding of the material.
To Yuto,
ReplyDeleteI don't think that people can get to know a complete stranger's personality in a limited time either. And these days, I see many books on what to do in a job interview in book stores. I've seen what is inside the book and it explains about how to sit, how to bow, how to answer each question in an appropriate way etc.. Could this maybe be only in Japan? Are there many books in America that explains all these manners regarding to job interviews? I'm not so sure. However, I agree with the fact that Asians tend to try and 'blend in' in most situations, compared to Westerners.
To Ryoko Hiroi,
ReplyDeleteI also think that Americans regard personalities as relatively fixed whereas Asians regard them as more malleable. I'm very curious about the reasons for this. Could it be because somewhere in the Asian personalities, there is a feeling of fear of doing something different. And why would they have that fear? It may be because the importance of 'harmony' is already programed in the Asian body and mind, or it may be because the Asians live in an environment where there is a need for that type of personality , for example, in Japanese there is 'Keigo' whereas in English there is no keigo and when using it, people appear differently compared to how they are like when not using it.
1. If given a choice, which I am, I would focus on the Asian way. I think there is no point in looking for a murderer’s physical characteristics. I think other people are capable of crimes like the case with Gang Lu, but they don’t do it because of things like common sense or fear. We are able to control the negative emotions that we might feel. To tell the truth, however, I think it’s useless for newspapers and other media to report the characteristics, behaviours, or the environment a “criminal” lived through. I’m happy with neither the Asian nor Western way. It’s just taking the results and connecting what would satisfy the viewers. Showing them what they want to see. Then the viewers could say “Oh I’m not like that, so I’m OK” or “My son isn’t in any similar environment as that criminal, he’s fine” when it can happen to anybody. I think I’m missing the topic here. I’m sorry if I am. Comparing the two ways, the Asian way, the situational factors make more sense to me.
ReplyDelete>>Yu
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I have never thought of causes of crimes reported in newspapers that way so it was very intresting. It is probably true that some people are relieved to hear the causes of the crimes so they can check that they have little possibility of being a part of it. It is true that a part of us believe that we will not be invovled in such crimes. This reminds me of the way newsreporters do their jobs. Some of them say it like they could not care less about it. Most likely, they do not consider the fact that they might be the victims of the crimes. I am missing the topic too,lol. I personally thnk both the Western and Eastern ways are important. People would not cause crimes if they were satisfied with their current state. So it might seem like the Asian way is most important. If the person was mentally strong, however, they should be able to overcome the difficulties they are facing. I think both factors need to be considered when getting to the bottom of a crime.
> Yu
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Asian way make sense. When I watched the news about the crime, I always assume that criminal was in some kind of bad situation. And if there is nothing different, I feel so awkward. So, on that point, I agree with your idea that viewer like us want to know the sitatonal factor so that we make sure our selves that we and or our acquaintance are not like them.
1) I think we need to consider both, situational factors as well as the attitude of the person and traits. However, I emphasize the former one more; the Asian way. First of all, can you imagine that personality is the only aspect that determines one's behaviour? I strongly felt this when I saw the news about the "Akihabara hokousha-tenngoku murder incident" (sorry, I cannot recall the formal name of this case.) The Japanese news showed us the criminal's diary and although I cannot forgive him of what he has done, I was sorry for the circumstances and felt that the society has some of the responsibilities too. Moreover, I often hear in the Japanese news phrases such as "...I cannot believe him doing this...," "...she was always kind and ... it's hard for me to accept the fact that she was the criminal...." This maybe because the people who "though" they knew the criminal, actually had only known part of that person. However, once the police starts the interviews with the criminal, it often turns out that the criminal cannot believe what he had done and regrets it. In these cases, their are often complicated situational factors that had strongly affected the criminal's actions. Of course, there are cases in which the dispositions ( sometimes mental illness...)of a person has great influence on one's action. However, we cannot leave out the situational factors since human beings can be influenced by the environment and therefore, I feel the importance of considering both, personalities and situations.
ReplyDelete( As I was typing this, I thought that if what Nisbett says about Asian's perceive personality as "relatively fixed" and Westerner's "malleable,"
is true, this belief maybe why the former stresses the importance of situational factors and the latter on presumed dispositions.)
(1) At first, when I read the examples that Nisbett showed, I felt that situational factors were more important if I was thinking about murder. In his example, the motive of the murderer was relatively clear, which was to get revenge on the people who had, from his point of view, unfairly fired him. If he had not been fired, he would have had no reason to kill anyone, and although I don’t know what might have happened in the future of this “what if” story, I’m pretty certain that he would not have commited murder. However, after I thought about this, another incident came to my mind. On June 6th , 2008, a 25 year old man ran his truck into pedestrians crossing the street at Akihabara. People thought it was a traffic accident at first, until the man got out of his car and started to stab the people he had rammed, and the people who had come over to help them. At the end, 7 people were killed, and 10 were injured in this affair. The murderer’s motive was that if he killed many people, he would be sentenced to death. He has also said that he didn’t care who he killed, and that he was tired of living. When this incident came to my head, I didn’t have such a detailed knowledge of this incident, but it was enough to make me pause. At first glance, this incident looks like the work of a mad murderer, and this kind of judgement is definitely based on the perpetrator’s personality, but I think that most people will feel this way. I became unsure if situational factors were the only things that you needed to look at in cases such as this. We can see what the factors are, but I don’t think we can understand them as easily as Nisbett’s example where the main motive was personal vengeance. What kind of “situation” would you need to take away or change in order to stop this man? The motives and the actions that he took are, I think, so alien to most people that it would be hard for most people to feel enough empathy to comment on the situational factors. The “situational factors” that most people think about are probably factors which will fit what those people think are “normal” people. Their perception of what is “normal” would put limits on those people’ understanding of the motives and actions of criminals.
ReplyDelete(This continues from the comment above) I looked for an article that was written about this matter on the Japanese Wikipedia, which I felt would be accurate enough for this incident, and my interpretation of what was written there are the sentences above explaining the incident in Akihabara. After I read the article, I decided to read the English article on the same subject, out of curiosity. I expected to find an article with mainly the same information. However, what I actually found there was vastly different from the Japanese version. While the Japanese article that I read focused more on the reactions of various people to the incident, it did not say much about the early life of the suspect. Actually, it didn’t say anything at all, only mentioning his birthplace before skipping his entire childhood to introduce the university he had graduated from. After that, it mentions the places he worked at, and where he had gotten the tools and weapons he used in the incident. It also mentions that he repeatedly posted comments on a notice board on the internet, and that the number of times he posted a comment is about 1000. After you read this, you learn almost nothing about what kind of a person he was, aside from a vague sense that he was a crazy murderer, based primarily on your expectations from the actions he took on the day of the incident. However, the English article reveals that he has had a childhood you can only call abnormal. I won’t go into it at length here, but I will post the URL at the end for anyone who is interested. If you compare the writing on the perpetrator’s early life, it might be interesting. After reading an article that showed a glimpse of what may have had a negative influence on his personality, I became unsure again. Do you judge the person for having a personality that didn’t fit society at the time the crime was committed? Or do you judge the person based on the situations that made him into the person he is today? How far back in peoples lives can you call “situational factors”?I guess I’m restating the original question again, but I think this kind of example shows why I can’t easily decide on an answer.
ReplyDeleteThe Japanese article on the Akihabara massacre
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/秋葉原通り魔事件
The English article on the Akihabara massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihabara_massacre
2. I prefer the Japanese way to the American way. This is because I think it is important to look at events in chronological order when studying history. Of course the outcome is important, but I believe that looking at the events which caused that outcome is equally important. Also, as Nisbett says on page 127, looking at the feelings of a historical person will make us connect our situation to theirs. I think this process helps us to understand history better, since we are able to feel history closer to us. If we just memorized the outcomes of particular events, that information will just remain in our brain as facts. This may be why many people tend to separate history from their everyday life. However, if it is related to our feelings, I think we are able to have a better understanding of the past and learn important lessons from it.
ReplyDelete1.
ReplyDeleteI think both the Chinese reporters and the American reporters use too much favourable/unfavourable language like we did in class the other day. There is no way the viewers are going to see the topic objectively in this way, but I suppose that's just the nature of the media and consumers like us are the ones causing the media to be that way.
What I found interesting was that in the end of the chapter, it talks about what students in both countries thought if the situation was different. I was surprised that most American students think that way because I had a Chinese way of thinking and never considered a different idea other than mine!
I think anybody in any place have all got possibilities of committing a crime. Those who actually did become a criminal, well I think it was just tamatama. And also, I think me myself and many others living peacefully are criminals right now this moment. What we buy or eat may well come from a company hiring illegal workers. I wonder why Americans(not all of course) think that way...Criminals are born as criminals...?I don't think so.
Anyway, I hoe you get what I'm trying to say cause this stuff is just all over the place.lol
2) When it comes to think about historical events, I truly believe the American way of emphasizing the outcomes is preferable to the Japanese way of focusing on one’s feeling. This is because all the history, no matter where it takes place, is connected in a chain. In other words, even if someone in a history have a certain feeling to commit a historical events, there is got to be a cause, a past historical events, which brings it about. Therefore, it is true that person’s feeling interferes and affects to historical events, but what we really have to see is the cause of that person feeling such feeling. In addition, this process will even guide us to fully understand what kind of world we live in at this right moment, because this chain of historical events is what we call international relations.
ReplyDelete(1)I tend to think in the Asian way when I hear news about a person who commited a felony such as murder. This is because I regard a person as a conpound of his or her expreience. In my opinion, people are gave birth to this world as "tabula rasa". This is a word which means 'white paper' in Latain and was used by Descartes to descrive the infants' condition. As they grow up, their paper will be wrriten in by their parents, frends, customs, cultures...every components of the world around them. Human is made up of context they are living in more than their own inborn characteristics. For example, the first thing they are written in is language. People don't know what diarect of what language to learn before they were born, however, this will mold their range of perception in many ways and give the people who have close languages some similar characteristics to share. You may say that my idea is incorrect because people have some inborn characteritics which can determine their life, for example a state of the IQ test or inherited genetic materials. I can't deny this refutation perfectry, however, I think these inborn factors have less powerful effect on people in comparison to posteriori ones. High IQ level don't always be connected with high level of academic accomplishment. It only indicates 'tendency'. What have more conclusive effect is motivations from the society they belong to or something like that. In adition, even people who have the same genetic characteristic such as fraternals have different personalities each other. For this reason, I see people who commit a heavy crime in the Asian way.
ReplyDelete[2]When I think about historical events, I prefer the Japanese way in which I study how the historical person's feelings, thinking and so on. I think if I was asked what is the necessary way for dealing with historical events I would answer that both way is necessary, so we should take the compound way. That is because if we know only cause or effect, that knowledge means nothing. We can understand historical events and deduce some lessons from it only when we know about both why the historical person do something and how that decision affected the outcomes. Thus I think both way is necessary. However when it comes to my preference, I like the Japanese way better that the American way because it is fascinating for me to know the actual feeling of the historical person at the time when he or she made some decisions and I've been fed up with knowing only outcomes through studying for the entrance examination of university. These are my answer to the question 2.
ReplyDelete3.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nisbett's statement about the personalities being relatively fixed or malleable... I think.
In American high schools, they've got the stereotyping of "jocks", "cheerleaders", the "geeks", the "nerds", the "loners"... Like Nisbett said in chapter one, the Greeks (in this case "Westerns") like to categorize. These stereotypes come with certain personality traits.
In Asia, because they believe in living in harmony, personalities become malleable. They "fit in" well with society. To do that, if they are different, that person will try hard to be like everybody else, to "stick to the status quo"
These two examples both show that people like to "belong". They do not like to be the left out. So maybe America and Asia are not that different in this case?
However, I believe the difference becomes clearer when they grow up. In the case of American stereotyping, perhaps it is just high school. When these Americans grow up, they find their own "personalities" and that is when it becomes "relatively fixed". Also, they ARE stereotypes. I have friends in America who did not really fit into any of that category. On the other hand, Japanese adults still have the need to fit in, and be like everybody else. I think more Japanese work places have uniforms that American ones. Though this is not a personality thing, the fact that everybody looks the same reflects on that fact.
So I do agree with Nisbett's statement. American personalities are relatively fixed and Asians are malleable. Although it is important to keep in mind that not ALL Americans and Asians are like that. Also at one point everybody, no matter what nationality or cultural background, wanted to be like everybody else and fit in. It just takes time to realize that you should not have to be like everybody else to be accepted for who you choose to be.
I'm sorry for my late comment. I hope it's not too late.
ReplyDelete(1) I consider Asian way (situational factors) rather than the Western way (attitudes and traits). I think so because people's personalites are affected and made by their surroundings. While Yuto gave Akihabara murder case as a question for situational factors, I think this case happened because of situational factors. The muderer carried out cruel action,as Yuto described, because he had noone to stop him. He wanted to be sentenced to death because he was loneley and that loneliness changed to anger toward society. He wanted to be cared about but no one did. If someone noticed his loneliness, then the case could be prevented. For above reason, I consider Asisan way.
I'm sorry for my late comment as well..
ReplyDelete1.) I would think the in-between.
I partially agree the way that Asians assumed the murderer as being not committing any action if they did not have unhappy situations. However, I also partially agree with what Americans say, that the past psychological predisposition is the main factor to result this consequence, therefore both murderers has done it at any time. I disagree with this last part. I think both murderers would do nothing for this time if they did not have that incident, but I assume that they would do something in the near future when they have similar unfortunate situations.
> Miyuki
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion that people are influenced by both situational factors and attitude and traits. As you said, I also think that the "Akibahara hokoushatengoku murder incident", I felt that the murderer might not had done the crime if he were in the better environment. However, I don't think only sitational factor infuluence a person's action.
He said that he killed many people because he was tired of his life. These days, Japanese economy has been not good, so many people are in bad situation. And the difference between the those people and the murderer can be personality including whether they can have moral to decide their judgement.
I'm sorry for commenting this late..
ReplyDelete2) I consider the Asian way rather than the Western way. In a case of murder on p.111, I think Gang Lu committed a murder since he was very depressed and in a confused state of mind because of the fact that he lost an award competition and the fact no one cared about him. And I don't think it was because he had a "very bad temper" or something, as it says on p.111, that he committed a murder. Like this, those who commit crime do so not because of their characteristics and such, but because of the situations they are in. If you are in a very hard situation, it could depress you or make you feel down. And even though you feel really depressed, no one might give you a helping hand or care about you. A situation like this may lead you to commit crime. Therefore I consider the Asian way, situational factors.
2)
ReplyDeleteI prefer Japanese way of emphasaizing the feeling of historical people. I believe that the outcome of something is only the outcome of temporality. Even if the evaluation of the historical event is good one, it can't last as it is. I also believe that the evaluation of history is not so meaningful. We might be able to learn from history and change our behavior toward future by learning from history. But, somewhat we committed same mistakes again and again. We would be not able to help doing that because the decisions made at that moment cannnot be truly understood by people in different time.
I'm VERY sorry for my late comment.
ReplyDelete3.
I agree with how Nisbett states that Asians tend to think personality is malleable and Americans think it is fixed. I personally believe the Asian way, that personaility is malleable. Personality can change according to the change in our environment. This may not happen all the time but as you grow up, your personality is likely to change over time. When I was small, I was really self-centered and when things did not go right, I used to get upset easily. However, as I grew up, I began to think of the others as well. When I met my friends from elementary school for the first time in 6 years, I realized that some of them have changed. I think personality can change over time, as we meet many different people and experience a change in the environment.
To Yu Kominami,
ReplyDeleteI kind of agree with you that it's useless for newspapers and other media to report the characteristics, behaviours, or the environment a “criminal” lived through. But sometimes I think the background information helps us to understand how the criminal has lived so far. There could be reasons that we could understand about the criminal...
2.I prefer dealing historical events in the Japanese way, which emphasizes the historical person’s feeling. The reason is, because when I think more about the historical person’s feeling, I can look at history as something like a novel. By thinking why the person did it or what he felt at that time makes me think about the incident deeper, because I feel that the people who lived long ago were same to us, and the incident could occur at our age too.
ReplyDeleteTo Ryoko,
ReplyDeleteI just thought of this from reading your comment again, that the most Japanese people or asians are very skillful in doing different things(such as changing their voices depending on the situation like you mentioned) and this may be because the Japanese tend to think in a very serious manner. They have a lot of concentration towards things.
To Saori,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that it is important for us to look at the the events which caused that particular outcome. We learn from our past and the past is what supports and is the base of where we are now. We cannot certify facts just by looking at what we have now but we must gather information from what we have had up til now. I think that way, we are able to have the BEST solution in the end.
Miyuki,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the people who "thought" they knew the criminal, actually had only known part of that person as we can tell from such news in Japan "..I cannot believe him doing this...," or "...she was always kind." This made me think, could this be because of the Japanese culture? Can this type of situation be seen in the Western culture? If not, I can definitly say that it is because of the Japanese culture "気を遣う”This culture tends to separate the relationships of one another, and there is also "KEIGO" in Japanese, one has to speak in a different manner especially to the elders.
To Emma,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment that anybody in any place have all got possibilities of committing a crime. We all have FREEDOM we all must know it is not good to commit a crime. I also agree with you that the things we buy or eat may come from a company hiring illegal workers!
I also think that no one in this WORLD is born a criminal. We all have a chose which would be the freedom in life, but because we all SHARE this SPACE of the world or planet, we have to have to do things that do not effect other people badly. It's just like living in the same dormitory with other different people, except the WORLD is a much bigger place.
To Shuntaro Seki,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that what we really have to see is the cause of that person feeling such feeling and this may be related to the having a good and better environment as Miyuki and Chisato said.