[ephennaCypota]

Apologies for continuing the off topic drift, however,

Quote[/b] ] Australian english and americans have a slightly different way of spelling many words. Go to an australian dictionary and you will find a differnt spelling to what you learn in Thailand which is closest to American spelling

As an Australian, I'd just like to reassure everybody that we do not spell the following words as they were represented by Paul_Au, and pointed out by Makiy0.


cercumstances

equall

patients

idear

intelegence

Tecknology

eccerlerating

Paul may be referring to such words as, color vs colour, neighbor vs neighbour, center vs centre, check vs cheque, tire vs tyre, traveling vs travelling etc.

Hope this clears things up a bit.

[WertyNtont]

I think that Thai-farang relationships can be intimate, but it takes a lot of work. The cultures and languages are very different and both sides have to make an effort to learn and understand the other. I did a lot of reading in books and on the Internet in an effort to learn about Thai culture and traditions. I asked many questions during our engagement, and made it clear that I really wanted to show respect and not lose face because of bad behavior on my part. Doing simple things like showing respect to family elders (e.g., wai to them and stoop when walking in front of them to show respect for their status) goes a long way toward laying the foundation for good relations. I can learn about another culture without making value judgments, which I think is very important.

[Hedkffiz]

Like it or not the reality is that different races on this earth have been separated by up to 130,000 years of evolution since we left africa as a single race, and we are not all cognictivly equal. Every race has different cognitive advantages and dissadvantages, this is well known in science, that given the same enviromental cercumstances some races will do better in different areas than others. because it is not politicaly correct to show the diffences to the public due to what happened to the jews in WWII. We may not be all equall in every area but we all have advantages and dissadvantages in the areas of the brain that give every race an advantage in different areas. Most modern inventiuons like mobile phone and computers were invented by the west. like the original CD rom was a western invention, the patients buy the Japanese are just improvements to an already existing idear like the difference between a CD Rom to A DVD Rom. The original idear of the CD Rom was the break threw in Design not the improvement into a DVD, The Japanese are good at processing of Mathamatical equations which the equations were invented thousands of years ago., thats why they can make some thing better, the invention of the original CD concept takes more imagination.
The Japanese are very clevar but in a different way to westerners in that way we are all equall, but I'm not going to delude my self like many others that we are all equall in the same way.
I think we need to respect our differences as working together we can combine the advantages of the genetic cognitive intelegence of differnt races. Diversity in idears from different peoples will increase Tecknology faster. Because east and west has merged to one big think tank, we are now in the last 100 years eccerlerating tecknoloy faster than any time in human history, as the world is now small enought for every one to unite into a common course.

[WertyNtont]

Every race has different cognitive advantages and dissadvantages, this is well known in science, that given the same enviromental cercumstances some races will do better in different areas than others.

Where exactly are these findings documented? To my knowledge, most of the literature points to cultural versus biological differences.

...we all have advantages and dissadvantages in the areas of the brain that give every race an advantage in different areas.

What specific areas of the brain are we talking about here and what are these alleged differences? Are the differences structural or electro-chemical? Have these differences been assigned to a specific lobe, or to a specific one of Broadman's areas?

I have not found any support for your contentions in any of the relevant literature and would like to understand what your conclusions are based on. Please provide some specific references, as I am very interested to learn of these findings.

I have studied cognitive neuroscience and have read works by Gazzaniga, Ramachandran, and LeDoux. I am quite familiar with the areas of the brain and their specialized functions. I am also familiar with the electro-chemical mechanisms of the brain, including synaptic functions (e.g. action potentials and Hebbian plasticity) and the roles of neuro-transmitters (both excitatory and inhibitory) and neuro-modulators.

I am a trained psychologist and researcher and am very interested in this topic. Please help me to understand where you conducted your research and how I might locate your sources.

[WertyNtont]

Social science research has revealed that people from Asian cultures are rarely satisfied with the status quo and are always looking to improve. In the U.S. we have a saying, "Close enough for government work." What it means is that we are more willing to accept something as "good enough," without having to strive for greater perfection. This paradigm has harmed us in terms of our business competitiveness. While the Japanese and other Asian nations were producing products of better and better quality, we were still under the impression that what we were doing was good enough. Also, on average, Asian-American children perform better academically than children from other ethnic backgrounds.

I think a certain amount of pressure to do your best is a good thing, as long as love and approval are expressed too. When success is made a condition of love, problems develop. Many psychological problems are the result of trying too hard to live up to the expectations of others, instead of being true to one's self.

[WertyNtont]

I notice a big difference between Thai manners and the behavior of westerners. Does anyone else notice this difference? Whereas many westerners lose their temper and argue in public, I rarely see this with Thais. I also find that Thais are hesitant to give direct negative feedback and will say that things don't bother them, or that they like a gift you have given them, even if it is not totally true. Westerners seem to be more blunt and less concerned about hurting someone else's feelings. Is it just me?

[LomodiorCon]

I see it too. Thai people try not be angry, else they feel ashamed of their weakness (angry=weakness). They see strentgh in being composed, I think. This I think is the way they deal with life out of home and friend's circle. But I think within their close circuit they may be very open in their views. This is my speculation... I wonder if its true...

This is also a trait I see among all Buddhist people. In my place we have many people from Tibet. And I have met Buddhist from Sri Lanka too. They all 'choose' to be polite when dealing with people when in public and the way you describe.

But among Westerners, what I little experienced, I feel people from US, Australia & Britain choose to be more upfront about whatever they think. When they see something which they think is wrong they think its perfect to change it soon. And that could end up anywhere. When I come across the Scandanavian people they also try to remain quite shy about being negative. They are quite ready to conclude 'this is how it is out here. So that's it. End. ". Well... that's my general judgements.

[Dodoerabe]

I agree that westerners have more temperment and certainly don't hold their words back.
Asian believe in being polite and no ruining self image. PERHAPS THAT IS WHY THAILAND IS A HAPPY PLACE.... people don't get caught up in arguements!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the way I see it, why waste your life fighting... just smile -laugh and enjoy your lifetime)

[WertyNtont]

Paul,
With all due respect, please take a course in cognitive neuroscience. To the best of my knowledge, there is no empirical evidence to indicate that there are biologically based differences in cognitive processing ability between races. If you can produce an article from a reputable scientific journal to substantiate such a claim, I'd like to see it.

[textarchive]

Excuse me for being off-topic (if there is such a thing in this thread anyway )

Congratulations for your 500th post, Makiyo!

That means a half-thousand wonderful contributions to the boards! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us na, and I hope we will celebrate your 1000th as well!

[cheapphenonline]

Quote[/b] ]Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us na

The pleasure has been all mine.

Quote[/b] ]That means a half-thousand wonderful contributions to the boards!

That means you nice people have put up with my cr@p 500 times already...

[Caursedus]

Yes I spell in a way depending on what kind of mood I'm in on that day, and it is true that there is a slight difference in spelling between the USA and Australia, but there is also a different way of spelling in Sydney Australia as well. If you come from The north side of sydney you spell like the english, if you come from the western suburb of Sydney Called Bankstown, you would need to have some one like me to translate and spell there form of english to a Thai persion, Eg Brother is spelt Broe, friend is spelt "dood" words like cobber, trueblue, groover, are the form of english that I here as I work in this area, but I live in the east so I spell differently again.
About the brain stucture which cannot be seen by electrical nurological tests such as EEG tests or buy Xrays but I will send the refferece on who wrote that artical in the future

[WertyNtont]

If one is to learn about and understand people from a different culture, one must refrain from making value judgments. If you rely on your own culture as a frame of reference, and refer to other cultures and their practices as not "good" or not "modern," you are probably not going to learn to appreciate the customs and practices of other cultures.

Most cultural norms are adopted by a society because they are somehow adaptive, and help the society to survive and prosper. In order to understand the practices of another society, one must learn about the circumstances under which the practices began, and how they helped the society to promote its own survival. Whether or not you think it is a "good" practice is irrelevant. It is, after all, not your culture.

[pimbertiemoft]

I'm still waiting for a reference citation or the name of a theorist or two who can support the notion that the brains of Asians are different structurally from the brains of Europeans.

I don't even want to get into excuses for poor language skills. That would be drifting off topic more than we already have. The main focus of this thread is to discuss cultural differences where manners or social behaviors are concerned.

The three circles of intimacy mentioned by trisket sound very interesting and logical. Has anyone else had any experience with this in Thai culture?

I know that in America we don't like to have strangers stand too close or touch us. Like trisket mentioned, truly intimate relationships are rare for most Americans. What we tend to call friends are really acquaintances, for the most part. We're luck to have one or two really close friends. As our society becomes increasingly mobile, I expect these intimate relationships will be even more rare.

[cheapphenonline]

Quote[/b] ]wow Makiyo, you actually read that stuff? I am impressed, because usually I just skip through...gotta keep my sanity, you know.

I'll keep that in mind in future...

Quote[/b] ]I not have any where to put my key board and I hit the wrong Key

..........

Quote[/b] ]and the other reasion is the english dictionary is not fenetically spelt so I spell the way things should be spelt that is the way there pronounced

So you think reason should be pronouced as "rea-si-on"? Hmm...

Quote[/b] ]becides Australian english and americans have a slightly different way of spelling many words.

Australians adopted British English, I learnt British English growing up because I live in Singapore an ex-British colony. But I definitely spell my "becides" as "besides"...

Quote[/b] ]Hasn’t anyone explained to you that god put the fossils in the rocks to test our faith in the bible?

Now I know!

Quote[/b] ]I'm still waiting for a reference citation or the name of a theorist or two who can support the notion that the brains of Asians are different structurally from the brains of Europeans.

Me too.

Quote[/b] ]I don't even want to get into excuses for poor language skills. That would be drifting off topic more than we already have.

Sorry...that would be my fault

Quote[/b] ]A friend in Thailand explained to me that there are 3 "circles" of thai intimacy.

This is really good insight, trisket876.

[mxzjxluwst]

Hi Paul again, I have come to believe (because I cannot believe otherwise) that you say what you do out of pure commitment to your version of 'truth'. I think you are thinking very hard & honestly on what you know, but you are not taking time to expland your 'data'base of facts. Typically, if I am not sure I have a good enough width and depth of a topic, I try to stay away from conclusions especially if it is going to define others... which is the case in most subjects - in my case. In things which prick my mind too much, I simply ask. I take the liberty to go to extremes in my opinions only with my close friends (in casual talk, when things are not taken to eternity), or if it is a matter of my survival. I do not want to list the items of innovations from East, because in this case it may sound too competitive & confronting.

[cheapphenonline]

Quote[/b] ]Brother is spelt Broe, friend is spelt "dood" words like cobber, trueblue, groover, are the form of english that I here as I work in this area

I believe this is slang? And not really English language proper?

Quote[/b] ]Besides typing errors, it takes effort to misspell words once you know how to spell them!

paul_au's a real professional at it though, he does it effortlessly...

[Fuerfsanv]

Quote[/b] ]Losing Face

When it comes to losing face, it's a totally different concept. I had been raised to learn that in order to 'save the family's face', you got to work harder, get a good degree and job. Be the best, if not better than those around you. I quote my mum's fave phrase, " You better study hard, don't make me lose face. See Auntie XXX (some neighbor) next block (We live in flats)?, her son is soooo smart, going to be doctor. Don't make me lose face." My immediate response (suggested) is to roll my eyes upwards and shrug it off. I guess it developes the competitve culture in the society.

[WertyNtont]

About the brain stucture which cannot be seen by electrical nurological tests such as EEG tests or buy Xrays but I will send the refferece on who wrote that artical in the future.

What about fMRI, CAT, or PET? Can we see the differences in brain areas during dissection? I am very interested in learning more about these alleged differences. Please forward the reference as soon as possible. If you have the name of the author and the publication, I can look it up myself. I have access to several databases for scientific journals.