It’s hard to take a column seriously that generalizes so broadly about the personal instincts of Chinese and Americans, but here’s David Brooks arguing that where “Americans usually see individuals; Chinese and other Asians see contexts.”
When the psychologist Richard Nisbett showed Americans individual pictures of a chicken, a cow and hay and asked the subjects to pick out the two that go together, the Americans would usually pick out the chicken and the cow. They’re both animals. Most Asian people, on the other hand, would pick out the cow and the hay, since cows depend on hay. Americans are more likely to see categories. Asians are more likely to see relationships.
Of course, had Americans seen cow and hay, Brooks could have just as easily argued that Americans, as an entrepreneurial people, saw directly how the cow could profit from being associated with hay, which she can eat, instead of a chicken, which she can’t. Also, I’m not sure how Americans seeing “categories” dovetails well with individualist instincts, it sounds to me like an instinct towards categorization can just as easily be seen as collectivist.
But that’s not the point. The point is to favorably contrast America with China, then point out that our way of life is in danger: