Asian orthography blamed for lack of creativity
ranjit_...@yahoo.com
The Writing on the Wall
How Asian Orthography Curbs Creativity
William C. Hannas
http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/13905.html
"This well-written, well-documented book convincingly argues that
there is a 'creativity gap' between East Asian countries and the
West."—Choice
While East Asians are able to use science, they have not demonstrated
the ability to invent radically new systems and paradigms that lead to
new technologies. In fact, the legal and illegal transfer of
technology from the West to the East is one of the most contentious
international business issues. Yet Asians who study and work in the
West and depend upon Western languages for their research are among
the most creative and talented scientists, no less so than their
Western counterparts.
William C. Hannas contends that this paradox emerges from the nature
of East Asian writing systems, which are character-based rather than
alphabetic.
Peter T. Daniels
<ranjit_math...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Do any prominent Asians agree with the following?
>
> The Writing on the Wall
> How Asian Orthography Curbs Creativity
> "This well-written, well-documented book convincingly argues that
> there is a 'creativity gap' between East Asian countries and the
> West."—Choice
>
> While East Asians are able to use science, they have not demonstrated
> the ability to invent radically new systems and paradigms that lead to
> new technologies. In fact, the legal and illegal transfer of
> technology from the West to the East is one of the most contentious
> international business issues. Yet Asians who study and work in the
> West and depend upon Western languages for their research are among
> the most creative and talented scientists, no less so than their
> Western counterparts.
>
> William C. Hannas contends that this paradox emerges from the nature
> of East Asian writing systems, which are character-based rather than
> alphabetic.
Hannas's first book was crap, too. "Asia's Orthographic Dilemma."
noesy_parker
news:1fb1f614-2cf9-44f4...@s3g2000yqs.googlegroups.com:
I'm not prominent or anything, but this sounds like rubbish to me.
There were plenty of creativity and advances in science and technology
in ancient China, something that's well documented by Joseph Needham -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Needham
(the article also mentions the effect of writing system and a link to an
article which disputes the idea.)
To me the problem is a cultural one - deference to the elder and
reverence for tradition for example. I remember reading about the case
of a young Japanese scientist (although I can't remember the specifics)
who made a discovery which challenged the orthodoxy but did not publish
when someone more senior thought it wrong. It's not easy to do
something that challenges orthodoxy and can result in a paradigm shift
when there is immense pressure is for conformity and great respect for
consensus and tradition (it's not easy even in the West - proponents of
continental shift were ridiculed for instance). There was also a lack
of the formal system or systems in science in ancient Far East like
that of the West. I think the question is not why scientific revoltuion
didn't happen in the Far East, but rather why it should happen in the
West and not somewhere else - that is, what are the peculiar cultural
and historical circumstances and confluence of ideas that led to the
scientific revolution in West but not elsewhere.
Yusuf B Gursey
: "ranjit_...@yahoo.com" <ranjit_...@yahoo.com> wrote in
: news:1fb1f614-2cf9-44f4...@s3g2000yqs.googlegroups.com:
IMO the answer is simple: the "discovery" o fthe New World by Europeans,
and the spur to science due to its application to navigation.
Harlan Messinger
> Do any prominent Asians agree with the following?
>
> The Writing on the Wall
> How Asian Orthography Curbs Creativity
> William C. Hannas
> http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/13905.html
> "This well-written, well-documented book convincingly argues that
> there is a 'creativity gap' between East Asian countries and the
>
> While East Asians are able to use science, they have not demonstrated
> the ability to invent radically new systems and paradigms that lead to
> new technologies.
I'm willing to bet that the distinction he makes between the use of
science and the invention of radically new systems and paradigms is
ill-defined and largely amounts to: if we create it, it's a radially new
system or paradigm; if they create it, it's a use of existing science.
ranjit_...@yahoo.com
> "ranjit_math...@yahoo.com" <ranjit_math...@yahoo.com> wrote innews:1fb1f614-2cf9-44f4...@s3g2000yqs.googlegroups.com:
>
> > Do any prominent Asians agree with the following?
>
> > The Writing on the Wall
> > How Asian Orthography Curbs Creativity
> > William C. Hannas
> >http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/13905.html
> > "This well-written, well-documented book convincingly argues that
> > there is a 'creativity gap' between East Asian countries and the
> > West."—Choice
>
> > While East Asians are able to use science, they have not demonstrated
> > the ability to invent radically new systems and paradigms that lead to
> > new technologies. In fact, the legal and illegal transfer of
> > technology from the West to the East is one of the most contentious
> > international business issues. Yet Asians who study and work in the
> > West and depend upon Western languages for their research are among
> > the most creative and talented scientists, no less so than their
> > Western counterparts.
>
> > William C. Hannas contends that this paradox emerges from the nature
> > of East Asian writing systems, which are character-based rather than
> > alphabetic.
>
> I'm not prominent or anything, but this sounds like rubbish to me.
> There were plenty of creativity and advances in science and technology
> (the article also mentions the effect of writing system and a link to an
> article which disputes the idea.)
>
> To me the problem is a cultural one - deference to the elder and
> reverence for tradition for example. I remember reading about the case
> of a young Japanese scientist (although I can't remember the specifics)
> who made a discovery which challenged the orthodoxy but did not publish
> when someone more senior thought it wrong. It's not easy to do
> something that challenges orthodoxy and can result in a paradigm shift
> when there is immense pressure is for conformity and great respect for
> consensus and tradition (it's not easy even in the West - proponents of
> continental shift were ridiculed for instance). There was also a lack
> of the formal system or systems in science in ancient Far East like
> that of the West. I think the question is not why scientific revoltuion
> didn't happen in the Far East, but rather why it should happen in the
> West and not somewhere else - that is, what are the peculiar cultural
> and historical circumstances and confluence of ideas that led to the
> scientific revolution in West but not elsewhere.
There was once a feature (on PBS or some such channel) that said that
after China introduced a beaurocracy, initally to regulate water
distribution and consumption, innovation got stifled as the
beaurocracy expanded. It didn't say what, in addition to water, they
started regulating as they expanded.
Yusuf B Gursey
the theory dates to the 19th cent. and is connected with the marxist
category of "oriental despotism". it is no longer popular among
marxists though.