- The food pyramid changes in the US -

 

I want to make it clear that this topic is NOT claiming that some groups are better than others or that some groups are "stupid" etc, and these do NOT reflect my personal opinions. I just heard a podcast about this topic and thought it was interesting.

 

Specifically this podcast claims that white europeans are unique in the world due to a variety of different factors. This doesn't mean that other groups are all the same. But what it does mean is that white europeans have all these variables at certain levels whereas other groups are higher in one variable than another, but different groups are higher in a different level.

Basically, some studies found that western psychology and cognitive development has lead to a more unique person compared to the rest of the world. It found that generally European western people have "higher levels of individualism, are more willing to cooperate and extend moral concern beyond kin, place greater emphasis on personal freedom and self-expression, display greater tolerance for individual variation, and places less emphasis on on obedience to authority". 

When you compare these variables to other groups, such as Japanese people, it's pretty hard to argue that it's wrong. Japanese people are generally thought to be less individual and more  collective, do not show moral concern outside of their group, do not emphasise self-expression (the nail that sticks out gets the hammer), and does emphasise obedience to authority (following rules is paramount). However, this makes Japan not unique when compared to other countries throughout Asia and the rest of the world. 

 

On another variable, high collectivist societies (Japan, Korea, China) have lower levels of genetic variation when compared to European countries. This means, frankly, that the western stereotype that "all asian people look the same" does have some basis in biological reality.

On another point, China was more willing to poison someone to get ahead.

On another point it found that Japanese people being more collectivist also made them more resentful.

A lot of these differences seem to stem from stages of cognitive ability. Basically, what you are mentally able to do by certain ages. In western countries it is completely normal and expected that 10 year old kids are capable of theoretical, hypothetical, counterfactual thinking, as well as abstract logic, and be able to apply one concept in one context to a different concept. These abilities are not common throughout the rest of the world. In African countries, most people do not have a concept of the future (hence why they are often late).

 

All of this is to ask the question, with all these differences between groups around the world, do you think it's possible to cooperate successfully when it seems clear we are operating under completely different developmental stages? Do you think it explains some tensions between different groups? Do you agree that europeans are the abnormal group in the world and that Japanese people are not as unique as previously believed? How do you feel about some groups being "more developed" mentally/cognitively than others, and how does that fit in with current drives to make everyone equal?  

 

Link 1 Please play the video podcast and skip to the timestamp 1:00:45 (1 hour 0 minutes and 45 seconds)  and listen from that point.

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