• Behaviour of Chinese people in Starbucks dictated by what their ancestors farmed
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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/china-coffee-shops-farming-rice-wheat-behaviour-ancestors-a8322456.html Thanks great great great great grandpa, I always knew you were a social animal
So most of the country prefers communalism compared to individualism, even with modernization. This actually explains a lot.
The research challenges current theories about Chinese culture today, which hold that the major divide in modern Chinese society is between the poor, rural population and wealthier, urban population. Instead, the research team suggested that in fact the central divide may go back further, to farming practices that have dominated different regions for centuries. That's a really interesting thought. I always assumed that the more developed a society the more individualistic due to America's influence, but there's clearly exceptions to this like Japan so this makes sense. I'd be interesting to see what they find in India.
Interestingly, southern Chinese (who are more communal) are less friendly, less hospitable and more interested in what they can get out of you, while northern Chinese (more individualistic) tend to be much friendlier, more hospitable, but a little more "brutal"... you could say. Source: my own experiences + experiences of Chinese people I know
So why, exactly, does rice farming require communal care for the rice paddies, but wheat farming allows individuals or families to care for their own wheat field? It doesn't seem like they'd be that different.
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/1335/01209186-3a7c-4a52-81e4-3d652517f2f5/image.png The best way to do research always involves puzzles and traps
Asian cultures tend to think of the needs of the community/family before the needs of the individual. It's admirable in some ways, but comes off as terribly restrictive and conservative from a modern western viewpoint.
“All told, we inconvenienced about 678 people in Starbucks around China,” said Professor Thomas Talhelm, a behavioural scientist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Scientists are out of control.
All this shows is that there is a correlation of being from a certain region and how social Chinese people are, anything else is just pure speculation. To say that this suggests that what type of crops people farm has anything to do with their behavior is disingenuous and a real stretch. To say that the study is contradictory to modernization theory is flat out wrong. This is not how science works and the fact that a huge majority of people don't understand that and we get ignorant articles even from respected papers is frightening because this is where normal people get their information and shape much of their worldview. I highly suggest that everyone learns at least basic forms of scientific methodology and their limitations. I do think this is an interesting topic however and it's nice to see that they are gathering data.
This just in proxy data isn't real
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