The Geography of Thought

The Geography of Thought; How Asians and Westerners Think Differently... And Why.
Richard E. Nisbett

I bought this book last weekend to learn more about how I think differently to Cambodians. I was expecting an easy-read mix of armchair sociology and pop psychology. Part enlightenment. Part entertainment. The Geography of Though started out as an enjoyable read.... until I discovered that, according to many of the tests, I now "think Asian"! I wasn't trying to rig it. It seems I perceive, process and respond to things differently to how I used to growing up in Oz. New social and linguistic patterns have become intuitive.

At first this realisation was a bit disturbing. However, Nisbett acknowledges that "thinking Western" and "thinking Asian" are broad categories. And I'm sure there's a growing band of bicultural thinkers across the globe. These mix-mix thinkers are not wrong. Not weird. Not always mixed-up. Just different ; )