Please do not quarrel. In God’s eyes all creatures are equal. No man is greater than another. No woman more beautiful. No one is faster, richer, smarter or better looking. All of God’s creations are equal.
There are no differences in size, shape, color, temperment, culture, background or education because all are alike. There is no short and tall, no thin and fat, no smart and stupid. All are the same.
Let us not examine others as they are us. Let us not attempt to distinguish because all are the same. There are no races, genders, cultures, religions or nationalities. There is no Taiwan and China, no Germany and Ireland, no Denmark and USA, because all are one and the same.
This is OT, but fascinating stuff.
The topic of brain differences among races is controversial, to say the least. Even before you start to explani that differences do not necessarily imply differences in intelligence, people start foaming at the mouth calling one another racist and the like.
As is often the case, knee-jerk political correctness quickly delivers a kick in the balls to anyone who attempts to even discuss the topic. Case in point, a recent study that was submitted to Nature (I read about this in the paper somewhere so you’ll have to take my word for it!) was rejected because it implied that Aboriginal Australians had much better visual memory than folks of other races.
Researchers in the field who knew about the research thought that the paper warranted review by the scientific community. When it was rejected it was obvious to many that it was because Nature did not want to touch with a ten-foot barge pole any study that dealt with a seriously controversial topic like racial differences, epsecially those of the brain, even if the data seemed perfectly valid.
So, even if you wanted to investigate, scientifically, the differences between races’ brains, you won’t be able to publish your findings no matter good your data is. You’ll be forced instead to speculate about it in an online forum.
I had a friend called Barry who, during his tenure as a nightclub bouncer, conducted scientific brain research by knocking various people’s heads together. They wouldn’t let him publish that in Nature either, despite his conclusions that it was civil engineering students who made the most satisfying thunk.
In other news, wasn’t there some British or Australian scientist who rustled the bushes to startle the snakes by producing some kind of research comparing black folks’ brains and white folks’? It wasn’t that long ago, if I remember rightly and there was the requisite amount of uproar in the media.
If we look at history, which people say is kind of wise thing to do, we could look at the things that Taiwanese have given the world. First, we got cheap plastic toys that broke easily, and then we had so many computer chips flooding out of here that the overcapacity damaged confidence the global IT industry.
Did the Taiwanese invent computer chips? No. Did they manage to do it well but cheaply? Yes. Taiwanese are great imitators, but not innovators. If you class Taiwanese as “smart” by being able to save money, that’s fine. Ripping off employees, wiggling out of contracts, sacrificing quality to save a few cents has always been the Taiwanese way of thinking. If not paying your dues is called “excellent negotiation” , then I agree, the Taiwanese are world-class negotiators.
I searched Google for a similar site for Chinese living abroad, hoping to find some insight they may have on this topic of interracial marriages and to see how, in general, Chinese feel about us Westerners.
If we date and marry women outside of our race, ethnicity and culture, how possible can we immerse the mixed children with some aspects of Chinese values and culture? I know that I will be married to a non-Chinese and non-Asian woman and it is a fact that we Chinese in America must deal with.
“But all in all, I have learned a lot of really useful stuff from her. Actually, I learned more about the art of negotiation from her than I did from my Diplomacy & Negotiation professor in grad school.”
Monkey then replied:
“If not paying your dues is called “excellent negotiation” , then I agree, the Taiwanese are world-class negotiators.”
Well, monkey, I didn’t say anything about the context in which my wife has taught me about negotiation, did I? In fact, my wife has “paid her dues”, and as far as I am aware, has never cheated anyone out of anything not rightfully hers. The situations in which she taught me negotiation skills were all “arms-lenght transactions” and the other side always had the power to disengage or reject the offer.
As far as diplomacy is concerned, we are all aware of “complex Chinese relationships”, and regardless of how you view the same, there is no denying that a great amount of diplomacy must be used to maintain harmony in these relationships. So, yes, my wife has taught me much about negotiation (in the marketplace) and diplomacy (in relationships).
You mentioned cheap toys and overproduction of chips… my wife has nothing to do with those, and the world did not have to buy these items if they were not wanted. However, the issue in this thread is whether our Taiwanese/Chinese spouses/significant others can discuss worldly matters or teach us (foreigners) anything. I cannot speak for anyone else, but my Taiwanese wife has taught me oodles of stuff.
I quoted you and the conclusions I drew from it were logical.
You just misrepresented what you said.
You DID NOT SAY that there would be a misunderstanding based on the two people coming from different cultures.
You DID SAY that “NO MATTER WHAT” an Asian’s level of education or travel (and now this seems according another post to apply mostly to Asian women), it would still be “INEVITABLE” that the Western (man, we are forced to
assume) has to dumb down his level of conversation.
Therefore, the logical extension of your argument is that an Asian may educate themselves to infinity, but it will still be incumbent on the Westerner to sacrifice a degree of his intelligence to meet their level.
What do you believe accounts for the difference in intellectual
potential that you claim to identify? Do you agree with the Japanese scientists quoted? Do you think that physical differences in the brain account for Asian’s realtive inability to learn?
Now that we know that you do stand by these original commnets, the shocked public demands a response.
Rats pizzle, I never have to dumb down my conversation to communicate with a Taiwanese woman. Please… Are you guys spending way too much time talking with beetel nut girls or what???
Not to insult beetel nut girls but if you were “talking” to them I think getting your mind out of the gutter may be your biggest problem.
Cultural differences must be considered and I have to add that inter-racial marriages are not for everyone. As I said before, I am married to a Taiwanese, but that doesn’t mean that everyone can do it. You have to really understand what you’re getting into before you get married. Remember in Taiwan you don’t just marry the girl, you marry her entire family.
Don’t get your panties in a bunch. If you will go back and read my earlier posts you should discover that you misread them again. If you need assistance with reading English, please look into the Language Exchange forum. Once you have confirmed that you are mistaken, there is no need for you to apologize. We all make mistakes.
So, can we please continue with the discussion of whether intercultural relationships are more difficult than others, or do you wish to fight me?
What we are talking about are intercultural marriages - not interracial. We are members of the human race, and if you marry outside of that then you have a serious problem. The genetic variation between different groups is an interesting subject, but even the most isolated groups (possibly the Austaralian aborigines) have only been isolated from the common gene pool for 40 - 60,000 years. The possible genetic differences between them and the rest of us are insignificant compared with the effects of culture.
[quote=“bassman”]
You have to really understand what you’re getting into before you get married. Remember in Taiwan you don’t just marry the girl, you marry her entire family.[/quote]
In general, I agree with Bassman, but I also think it depends on the family. Taiwanese parent/child relationships are not always so different from what you might find in the West. For example, my American ex-wife’s parents particularly enjoyed having a “close” extended family, which was often suffocating to me. I have a number of friends whose parents are just as close them after marriage as my married Taiwanese friends’ parents are. I also have Taiwanese friends whose parents don’t expect or want much interaction with them.
My girlfriend is Taiwanese. I (and I think she would agree, as we have discussed this before) find the cultural differences to be a boon to the relationship, rather than a problem. Instead of worrying about the aspects of my cultural background and world view my Taiwanese girlfriend can’t fully understand (or which aspects of her culture I can’t completely grasp), we both tend to view our varied cultural backgrounds as an interesting element to the relationship. For example, I speak and read Chinese at a decent level, but there will always be more to learn, and she can always teach me something. By the same token, her English is very good, but I can always teach her something. The key point here is that we both want to learn, so we find common ground despite our uncommon backgrounds. She has taught me a great deal about traditional Chinese and Taiwanese beliefs, music, art, etc., and I have done the same for her (I am American, but I actually know who Balzac, Proust, and Dickens are, and am pretty sure that England and Australia are different countries ).
Certainly you can’t base a successful relationship solely on your cultural differences, but they can be a benefit instead of a downer. It’s all in how you look at it.
Listen, if men are from Mars and women are from Venus then all you guys are arguing about is which part of the planet she comes from. No matter where they’re from women are mysterious creatures with limited powers of reasoning and poor driving skills, especially when they take that monthly trip to the ‘dark side’.
I’ve got a Taiwanese girlfriend and I don’t understand her any less or any more than my last bird. At least this one can cook fish properly and doesn’t have an irrational hatred of all my mates.
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