Re: Help projects (Re: 'Face' cultures)


"Aardvark J. Bandersnatch" <sumbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
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"Sylvia Knörr" <Sylvia.Knoerr_NoSpam_@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Aardvark J. Bandersnatch" <sumbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx> schrieb im
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Indeed, there are major cultural differences between the two areas, and
it was those cultural differences that made the African attempts
miserable
failures. Again, it seems to be because "we" (Americans and Europeans)
just can't seem to figure out that other people don't have the same
values
that we have.

Though this might mean that I do the same mistake again, I suppose that
it
is universal human nature to conclude that "everyone is thinking more or
less like me". We tend to generalize our personal experience. Quite
often -
especially within our own cultural sphere -such thinking yields useful
results in everyday life. But it may stand in the way of intercultural
understanding. A scientific approach might be helpful then.

I admit that it's hard for me to understand why many women (especially
in
Africa and Muslim societies) don't seek to escape their constraints if
they
have the chance to, and even though they are offered help. But then
again, I
also can't understand why people don't seek to escape drug addiction
when
they are offered help. Something seems to be much stronger than rational
arguments.


Sylvia,

Your comments are welcome, as always. It seems to be the case that people
try to find the best possible behavior given circumstances, as they
understand the options and as they understand the circumstances (in order
to
find an optimal situation for resources, reproduction, and child-rearing).
That would be the basic premise for human Being. However, the cultural
biases are (or can be) a rather heavy filter laid on top of that. The
cultural biases color and define and limit (thank, J-P Sartre) the
possibilities that we see as well as color, define, and limit the ways in
which we see the probabilities associated with those possibilities.
Therefore, it would seem likely that African women (in certain cultural
milieus) see only certain possibilities and probabilities, while you (or I
or an Afghani woman) would see an entirely different set.

Yes, very likely so. The social setting probably limits our behavioral
options a lot.

The question then becomes of understanding their concepts of themselves,
their worlds, and their possibilities. That, of course, requires careful
and
sensitive research by psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists.
That's a lot of work to go through before setting up a program. Sometimes
it
seems as though trail-and-error is a more effective method (overall).


I guess some things can't be effectively predicted by scientific means.
Human behavior might be one of these things, because it is very complex. By
applying the trial-and-error method, we can circumvent complexity because we
can use INTUITION - inaccessible to the rationality of science. In some
areas it may be the superior method.


.