05-03-2015, 07:22 PM
Evening Tom. Having read both, I do wonder why you don't see the connection between the findings of how unusual western views are compared to much of the world, and the local disconnect between views on the value of the TMT on Mauna Kea.
What I found most interesting in the study were how widely some of the cognitive measures differed between cultures, demonstrating social and environmental impacts on very fundamental aspects of awareness such as focal object and background awareness. This forces a reconsideration of the platitute that "people see things differently" from simply meaning a difference in opinion to being a real difference in perception.
If the epigenetic effects can be that dramatic, why is there any surprise that difficulties would arise in conversing with or understanding those from a very different cultural background and perspective of the TMT?
What I found most interesting in the study were how widely some of the cognitive measures differed between cultures, demonstrating social and environmental impacts on very fundamental aspects of awareness such as focal object and background awareness. This forces a reconsideration of the platitute that "people see things differently" from simply meaning a difference in opinion to being a real difference in perception.
If the epigenetic effects can be that dramatic, why is there any surprise that difficulties would arise in conversing with or understanding those from a very different cultural background and perspective of the TMT?