Although I haven’t traveled much outside the US or extensively studied other cultures, I’ve still been exposed to enough stuff to know that there are a lot of different ways to approach anything and everything in life. Learning about how people do things in different parts of the world has helped me get good at thinking outside the box and thinking of a number of potential solutions to modern problems. It can be easy to think small, so I decided to make a post about different ways to do some thing in order to encourage everyone (including myself) to think big. Without further ado, here we go.
- Communication: The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about some of the differences in communication is language. There are thousands of different languages spoken today, and with all of those languages comes a lot of variance in grammar, writing, slang, etc. Beyond language, there are different styles of communication. For example, some cultures put the burden of responsibility for good communication on the speaker while others place that burden on the listener. There are also different views on how people should speak to strangers, coworkers, friends, family members, and authority figures. This can result in surprise and misunderstandings when people travel from a culture they know well to one that they hardly know at all. However, this can also be a good thing in that it introduces them to different ways of doing things and, in the process, gives them an opportunity to improve their communication.
- Counting: This great video from Numberphile blew my mind when I first saw it. I had never put much thought into how something as seemingly simple as counting can differ from one culture to another. Everything from the words for certain numbers, symbols used to represent them, ways to write them out, and more can vary wildly depending on one’s location. Like the guy in the video says, this shows that math isn’t as much of a universal language as it appears to be.
- Thinking: Unlike most other things on this list, there’s no need to travel to another country or culture for this entry. Vast differences in thinking can easily be found within a small geographic area, even sometimes as small as a family living under one roof. Some people think in words, others think in pictures, and still others think conceptually. Other ways to think include (but are not limited to) creatively, logically, laterally, continuously, and intentionally. How someone thinks determines a lot about how they live, what decisions they make, and what they accomplish in life. It also affects the way they communicate and how well their message is received by other people who may think differently than them.
- Managing emotions: There are many different perspectives on how to properly manage emotions. Many of the differences come from how someone thinks about emotions, such as why we have them, what purpose they serve, and how we should use them. In some cultures, emotions like grief, sorrow, and anger are considered negative and are mostly kept hidden except during extremely difficult periods (such as the loss of a loved one). Emotions such as joy and happiness, meanwhile, are often considered to be positive and worth displaying in casual situations, though they might be considered inappropriate in more formal settings. There are also different approaches to moving on with certain emotions, such as working through them and then leaving them alone vs revisiting them occasionally to understand them better and receive greater healing.
- Community: Community has changed a lot over time. Technological and economic conditions have made it easier for people to keep to themselves, resulting in fewer interactions and a reduced tendency for people to take care of each other. However, some people who have chosen to live simpler lives still have strong community ties and receive whatever they can’t obtain on their own from their family members, friends, and neighbors. Additionally, even in more complicated cities, there are still examples of small communities based on shared interests in which participants get to know each other and, when needed, help one other. Despite all the changes it’s undergone, community is still alive and well if you know what to look for and where to look for it.