- China people are learning and studying very aggressively, be it the hippest programming language or the latest management information, there are significant number of people busy swapping information. China no doubt is a country with a lot of people, but the attitude and hunger to advance are not only impressive, it is down right scary. It seems like in a race, they are running like crazy, while I am strolling around. I think this also applies to countries like India and Brazil also.
- Aptly called the information super highway, the ubiquity of internet has nearly everything you need (plus a lot of stuff you don't need). This further aggravates the differences between those who wield this knowledge and those who don't.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Free Flow of Information
Recently I have been reading a lot, mainly news articles in English and Chinese. I found out two things:
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5 comments:
I wonder if the attitude to advance in these and other rapidly developing country is too aggressive to the detriments of other things like environment, ethics etc.
Humans should sit back and realise that advancing at a rapid pace isn't all there is.
China is still a low-trust society: corruption, self-preservation, greed, Ah-Q mentality...
It'll take more than economic strength and determination to learn new technology to change those attitudes.
It will need to develop a culture of honesty, integrity, humility, and inner strength.
Despite the many opinions about China's weaknesses for the past 30 years (e.g., Ugly Chinese), a lot of things have not changed yet.
I wonder, how long will it take to change the mindset of a people?
Both of you got valid points. Advances in science and technology won't replace and compensate for deficiencies in other aspect of humanity. Western countries have gone through centuries before they become what they are now. Some third-world countries are trying to clamp everything into less than a century. Most of those keep throwing money at the hardware and think having the tallest building signifies a country is advanced. Well, a few hours of downpour already proves otherwise. Culture, taste, and education all need time to germinate. You can't force these.
The good news is as the general living standard improves in these countries, I think (or should I say I hope) the consciousness on other issues will grow as well.
Sooth:
Echoing on your comment, I will frame it as follows:
With society as a system, will it be optimum if everyone (ok, say most of them) optimizes personal profit?
The answer is a resounding no, because a society needs all types of talents.
Advancement is good, if it is balanced. In this sense China has a lot of room to improve.
Asians (not just Chinese) still don't see the big picture. Everyone's working for personal gain. It's like the study where they did a simulation of a burning plane.
If all the strong men in the plane rush to the emergency exit, almost everyone dies. If the strong men help the weak out first, almost everyone survives.
I'm wondering if this is just a basic survival trait inherited from our ancient culture. Wars were (still are) common, every man/woman/child for him/herself. Even thousands of years of sagely teachings to work for society has not dented our primal instincts.
Too bad. Wonder if humans can survive as long as dinosaurs.
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