Most definitely. I'm both Filipino and Japanese. And in Japan we have this old saying, "Deru kui wa utareru," which roughly translates as "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down," and growing up in such a collectivist culture made it really hard for me to forge my individual identity. I spent most of my education in the Philippines but I was raised in a dominantly Japanese discipline mainly because my father is very traditional. Well, I was what you can call, a typical docile Asian girl who does everything her parents tells her to do. Make your family happy, everybody's happy. While I can't really say that it was a bad thing, it has definitely turned me into some kind of a cog and I only realized that after reading Existentialist philosophers (and exposure to western philosophy in general) such as Kierkegaard and Sartre when I was in high school (and was further reinforced when I was taking a few philosophy courses back in college). It gave me an idea and affirmation that there is no absolute way for you to "be" (my case being the nail that must never stick out), that a person actually has the freedom to define one's self even at the risk of becoming the anti-thesis of one's own culture. But what happened to me is like an amalgamation of the Western idea of individuality and the Oriental collectivism. So what I'm saying is, I am not completely westernized as I am not completely oriental. I've learned to strike a balance between.matt wrote: but what have you actually gained from it? did you read something that changed your life or your way of thinking?
i cant outright say its stupid since i do not read or care about it but from what i understand, it is all common sense. there is so little that people can understand about time and reality that it is pointless to try from a "philosophy" standpoint anymore.
i can understand its value centuries ago when people were moving from primitive animals to what we are now but there is not really anywhere else to go with it. the knowledge gained is widespread and either people are going to come to a conclusion themselves, they are going to learn from it or they are going to ignore it.
id really love to hear a story someone has about how it has changed their way of thinking.
But I must say, what you call common sense could not be entirely true since it can be taboo to some people in other cultures. Like it's common sense for you Americans to express yourselves (with your first amendment and all) but for the Japanese it's common sense to keep it to ourselves instead. It rather makes sense for us to shut up than to speak out, the cultural disparities could go on. While the Japan that you guys see today appears to be flamboyant and carefree, believe me, Japan in its entirety is still traditional as it could ever be. You should see our schools here, even in kindergarten/elementary schools, the training is VERY militaristic.
And oh, if it weren't for my exposure to the West and my subsequent fascination to its philosophies, I don't even think I'd ever post stuff here (and might never had the chance to FULLY appreciate western skramz) since I'd prolly wouldn't bother learning English like 98% of my compatriots in Japan.
So yes, it changed my life in a lot of ways I could ever imagine. Though there is definitely no one-size fits all when it comes to practical application, theory definitely helps.
