The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why

When psychologist Richard E. Nisbett showed an animated underwater scene to his American students, they zeroed in on a big fish swimming among smaller fish. Japanese observers instead commented on the background environment -- and the different "seeings" are a clue to profound cognitive differences between Westerners and East Asians. As Nisbett shows in The Geography of Thought, people think about -- and even see -- the world differently because of differing ecologies, social structures, philosophies, and educational systems that date back to ancient Greece and China. The Geography of Thought documents Professor Nisbett's groundbreaking research in cultural psychology, addressing questions such as:

The Geography of Thought is a very short book, but it should not be read rapidly because of the depth and quantity of information. I have a greater insight and appreciation for the way people think now. I enjoyed it very much.


Essential for intercultural understanding   September 4, 2003
J. Hansen (Japan (from the USA))
14 out of 16 found this review helpful

Nisbett's book is the popular presentation of a decade-long (at least) revolution occuring in cultural psychology and anthropology. Essentially he tries to explain that the way that people think isn't just a standard "thought process" with different cultural definitions provided depending on where you grow up but that the process of growing up and absorbing the meanings and values provided by the cultural environment critcally and fundamentally shape how one thinks. People literally SEE the world differently. It isn't just language or concepts or values or customs.

I've been doing research as an anthropologist and studying cultural psychology here in Japan for the last 5 years. This change in conception of how culture creates cultured people (and then cultured people create culture in turn) is truly wonderful, as it provides a systematic way of understanding the human condition. We all know that we are social, cultural creatures (see Tomasello's Cultural Origins of Cognition for a great treatment of this issue as well) but many researchers tend to treat culture as a "thing," an approach that has been recognizably problematic for decades.

I found this new understanding of culture and self (it is referred to as "mutual constitution" as in they mutually contribute to the formation of the other) to be slippery though. At times, it makes so much sense and is so powerful for understanding culture that it feels like I'm looking through a microscope at the fundamental human cultural process, but then at other times the seemingly tautological aspect of it spins me around and spits me out like a carousel at high speed. Either it seems to make so much sense that it hardly feels worth mentioning or it makes very little sense. But don't give up on it, as it is the way our cultural species operates.

I've been talking generalities thus far, but this book also provides interesting specific information about Eastern and Western cultures, going back to early philosophical foundations and following them forward to see how the thoughts (cultural patterns) formed. Once these patterns form, when they are transmited to a new generation of babies, they become part of the mental substrate of cognition and fundamentally shape how the babies view the world and the elements within it.

This is NOT about cognitive science, nor is it incompatible with cognitive science findings. Nisbett and colleagues' research is well founded (check the bibliography) and published widely in peer reviewed journals. This books is intended to present this information without statistical analysis of the performance of different people from different cultures on particular tests or in particualr scenarios.

Okay, I've blathered on long enough. Good book, great thesis, essential to understand cultural differences or the nature of cultural animals such as ourselves. Enjoy!


Usable and Informative!!!!!   March 19, 2003
Jonathan D. Stubbs (Luleå, Sweden)
21 out of 27 found this review helpful

Social/cultural psychologist Richard Nisbett has made an outstanding contribution to the field of cultural psychology. In the mid '90s I was enrolled in an international Master's degree program. About half of the students were from Asia. Just when I begin to think that I had a fair understanding of the thinking of the Asians in the program - surprise! "Geography of Thought" would have been of great value and helped me to better understand and appreciate my Asian classmates (Oh, we got along fine, but it is nice to know more). Too, I like how Nisbett relates some of his comments to Edward T. Hall's low/high context concept. Knowing that Westerners and Asians analyze the world in a different way is critical when seeking to communicate effectively. The ideas and findings described in this book may be used by academics, diplomats and businesspersons. I'll use this book in courses I may teach at the university level. I first heard about the book when listening to Prof. Nisbett being interviewed on National Public Radio. If you want to know more go listen to his interview; you should be able to find it at NPR's web site in the archives. While I caught but part of the interview, what I heard was enough to cause me to remember the title and buy the book as soon as I could get to Amazon's web site! I'll buy at least one more copy to send to a former classmate in Beijing with whom I maintain contact.


Excellent book   July 1, 2003
Public Health Advocate (Louisville, KY)
14 out of 18 found this review helpful

Nisbett has written a fascinating and thought-provoking book about an important topic, which is the differing cognitive styles of people from the West and Asia. Using a large number of social psychological studies as evidence, he shows that there's lots of evidence that Asians (by which he primarily means Chinese and Japanese) have different habits of thoughts than Westerners (meaning basically Americans), differences that are visible in research looking at very basic cognitive processes. Asians are more attentive to context, while Americans are more atomistic and object-focussed; Asians are more willing to anticipate changes in the directions of trends, while Americans tend to think linearly and expect trends to continue. Asians seek compromises to conflicts, while Americans tend to polarize alternatives; more generally, Americans are very used to styles of thinking that are argumentative and syllogistic styles (those involving formal logic), while Asians tend to find them less congenial. Admittedly, there's a danger here of over-generalizations or slipping into stereotypes, but Nisbett's work appears to avoid these problems partly by being based on empirical studies, and by being carefully qualified. And though he can't prove his speculations about the causes of these differences, he offers plausible theories as to why the differing cultural contexts of the two kinds of societies might have favored the different styles of thought. If Nisbett is right and people would take these differences seriously, two very positive consequences could follow. One is that Americans would have to confront the fact that other cultures don't necessarily have to or want to be like us--or even think like us. Our thoughtless assumption that either everyone is just like us, or ought to be, needs to be shaken up and this book does that. The other useful result is that this book encourages us to realize that there are many ways of using the mind to respond to reality. Some people may impatiently ask; but what's the right way? But that misses one of the points of the book: each way of thinking, each cognitive style, works well within a certain cultural context. Nisbett doesn't tackle the big issue of whether Asians would benefit more from thinking in "American" ways or we would benefit from thinking in "Asian" ways. He seems to think that each culture might learn something from the other. This answer is perhaps too speculative and imprecise for some people, but it sounds about right to me. In any case, read the book with an open mind and being aware that it's just one small part of the vast and complex subject of cultural differences in mentalities, and I think you will find it highly rewarding.


Guide for understanding East Asia and American differences.   November 3, 2005
Keith E. Webb (Singapore)
14 out of 18 found this review helpful

Are there basic differences in thought processes between the Chinese-Confucian societies of East Asia and Western societies? The author answers "yes" and makes a compelling case.

Nisbett's thesis is that there is no universal human cognition - all cognition is culturally affected. Through the use of numerous psychological studies he shows a stark difference in the way Westerners and East Asians perceive, reason, and "see" the world. Nisbett begins by tracing the origins of Western and East Asian philosophy, science and society. On this foundation he builds a case that Western and East Asian cognition is very different. He completes the book with two chapters on the implications of such differences to our modern world.

After 15 years living and working in 3 countries in Asia I can say that there are fundamental differences in the way people from different cultures process, evaluate, and act on information. Everyone views the world through cultural "glasses," and the glasses are all different. Being aware of your own glasses and the glasses of others is a beginning to cross-cultural understanding.

My Japanese colleague has stopped trying to explain to Americans the way Japanese people think - now he just lets Nisbett's book do it. This book provides important research foundations for trainers and coaches who work cross-culturally in Asia.