We just don’t understand
Jul 18th, 2007 by justsimplyholly
During my evening news snooping, I ran across and interesting article on Yahoo news titled Americans Don’t Understand Others that made me go “DUH”.
The article talks about a study that was done that shows Rugged Individualism could hinder out ability to understand other people.
The study, though oversimplified compared to real life, was instructive. Keysar and his colleagues arranged two blocks on a table so participants could see both. However, a piece of cardboard obstructed the view of one block so a “director,” sitting across from the participant, could only see one block.
When the director asked 20 American participants (none of Asian descent) to move a block, most were confused as to which block to move and did not take into account the director’s perspective. Even though they could have deduced that, from the director’s seat, only one block was on the table.
Most of the 20 Chinese participants, however, were not confused by the hidden block and knew exactly which block the director was referring to. While following directions was relatively simple for the Chinese, it took Americans twice as long to move a block.
It’s a great article and I highly suggest reading it if you have the time!
