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The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why Paperback – April 5, 2004

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Richard E. Nisbett (Author)
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4.0 out of 5 stars 113 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Free Press; Reprint edition (April 5, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0743255356
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743255356
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsThe good, the bad, and the ugly.
By Matt Dioguardi on April 18, 2003
Format: Hardcover
First the good. Several experiments on human subjects have shown that Asians and Westerners at a very basic level have biases in perception and categorization. Some experiments on human subjects even show that these differences are, surprise, a bit situational. I have lived in Japan for nine years, and I have noticed several of these things myself. So it was rather refreshing to see experimental data that actually objectifies a lot of these differences. I do think people are often unaware of just how different even a simple picture might look to someone from a different culture. As descriptions of these experiments take up a large part of the book, it certainly might be worthwhile to purchase the book merely to read about them. However, one caution I must add is that Nisbett preludes every experiment's reported result with an "as expected" or an "as anticipated." Nisbett seems content to try and find tests that support his views, but one is forced to wonder how hard he tried to falsify them. A subtle but important difference.
Now, for the bad. If Nisbett had stuck to his interesting and fascinating experiments on human subjects, this book might have made for some interesting reading. Instead, his aims are much larger. He wants to show that, "Each of these orientations -- the Western and the Eastern -- is a self-reinforcing, homeostatic system. The social practices promote the worldviews: the worldviews dictate the appropriate thought processes; and the thought processes both justify the world views and support the social practices. Understanding these homeostatic systems has implications for grasping the fundamental nature of the mind, for beliefs about how we ought ideally to reason, and for appropriate education strategies for different peoples.Read more ›
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2.0 out of 5 starsInteresting, but could have been so much better
By Rujith de Silva on June 17, 2003
Format: Hardcover
Like Matthew Dioguardi said in his review, this is a good book that is
spoiled by trying to be more than what it is. The experiments
described are fascinating. But they're unsatisfying, because there's
so much more that could have been done.

A typical experiment puts Easterners and Westerners in some
situation, and notes that they behave differently. For example,
Westerners describe the fish they saw, while Easterners first describe
the pond. But given two piles of descriptions, it's typically fairly
easy to find SOME differentiators between them. Instead, this should
have been done in a double-blind fashion: given just the descriptions,
with what certainty could the authors' ancestry have been predicted?

Similarly, the rationalizations given for the results of the
experiments seem rather post hoc. For example, experimental subjects
were given an essay on a controversial topic, told that the writer had
been forced to support a particular view-point in the essay, and asked
what the writer's true view-point might have been. The "correct"
answer is that there need not be any link between the "forced"
view-point in the essay and the writer's true view-point. Would the
"rationalistic" Westerners or the "holistic" Easterners be better at
figuring this out? In fact, the Easterners were better, and this is
attributed to their understanding of the "whole situation." On the
other hand, if the Westerners had been better, could not that have
been equally easily attributed to their superior reasoning skills?

The differences between Easterners and Westerners is attributed to
two millenia of cultural differences.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsEssential for intercultural understanding
By J. Hansen on September 3, 2003
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Nisbett's book is the popular presentation of a decade-long (at least) revolution occuring in cultural psychology and anthropology. Essentially he tries to explain that the way that people think isn't just a standard "thought process" with different cultural definitions provided depending on where you grow up but that the process of growing up and absorbing the meanings and values provided by the cultural environment critcally and fundamentally shape how one thinks. People literally SEE the world differently. It isn't just language or concepts or values or customs.
I've been doing research as an anthropologist and studying cultural psychology here in Japan for the last 5 years. This change in conception of how culture creates cultured people (and then cultured people create culture in turn) is truly wonderful, as it provides a systematic way of understanding the human condition. We all know that we are social, cultural creatures (see Tomasello's Cultural Origins of Cognition for a great treatment of this issue as well) but many researchers tend to treat culture as a "thing," an approach that has been recognizably problematic for decades.
I found this new understanding of culture and self (it is referred to as "mutual constitution" as in they mutually contribute to the formation of the other) to be slippery though. At times, it makes so much sense and is so powerful for understanding culture that it feels like I'm looking through a microscope at the fundamental human cultural process, but then at other times the seemingly tautological aspect of it spins me around and spits me out like a carousel at high speed. Either it seems to make so much sense that it hardly feels worth mentioning or it makes very little sense.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsI like it, clears up a lot of questions

Still reading this one intermittently with other books, I like it, clears up a lot of questions.

Published 1 day ago by mejane10
5.0 out of 5 starsA must read

A must for anyone interested in the evolution of thought and cultures. Well researched with great and current examples.

Published 2 months ago by Andres
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Excellent book!

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsStrong Recommendation Based on Years of Observation

For 10 years I lived in Southeast Asia and became very much aware that people in countries where we lived approached life and problem-solving in ways very different than Americans,... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

great

Published 4 months ago by richard fuller
5.0 out of 5 starsThe book offers a good platform for more focused academic reading on...

I am still reading the book. It provides a comprehensive and insightful overview of the primary differences that shape the thinking within these broad social and cultural... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

absolutely love his ideas, and examples he brings in.

Published 12 months ago by Won Lee
5.0 out of 5 starsA Thorough Exploration of the Differences Between the Eastern and...

Richard Nisbett has dissected thoroughly the fundamental differences between the cognitive functions of the East and West. Read more

Published 14 months ago by Jason Gregory (Author, Teacher & Public Speaker)
4.0 out of 5 starsAnd these 'ideal types' or 'pure forms' are very useful in helping to...

This book cuts through a lot of the stereotyping of Western and non-Western peoples by each other, and shows how many of the biggest and most evident differences in our cultures... Read more

Published 15 months ago by Brett H Matthews
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

As expected…great!

Published 16 months ago by Zach M. Ramey

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