Civilization Differences - East and West

There are significant differences between Eastern and Western cultures and philosophies.  The social structures, attitudes of individuals and groups, philosophies, and many other characteristics are observably different between East and West

Nisbett (2003) provides a thorough analysis of these differences.  Some of the main differences are summarized in the Table below.  He and I both acknowledge that these broad stroke statements about differences overlook the many individual cultural and sub-cultural differences that exist in the world.  Broad categorization is not done in any way to slight those differences, rather to point out the large and fairly uniform differences that exist between East and West.  Nisbett defines the East to include China and the east Asian countries with strong Chinese influence; the West includes western Europe.  For our purposes here, I include the Americas in the West and, because of similarities between Buddhist and Confucian philosophy, India is included in the East. 

These differences between East and West go back to the fundamental differences in the manner in which the axis thought leaders helped to construct the relationships between our individual and collective right and left minds.  Nisbett even uses the teachings of Aristotle and Confucius as examples of the 2 different systems of thought.  More than a billion people today can claim civilization heritage from the Greeks (including the Americas), more than a billion can claim civilization heritage from Buddha and Hinduism, and more than 2 billion can claim civilization heritage from ancient China and Confucius.  These civilizations have different rulebooks on life.

Both the Buddhist and Confucian teachings emphasize the existence of an ultimate life or truth associated with the “world”.  This ultimate truth is that to which individuals and groups should strive.  It is like a guiding light.  However, it cannot be well-defined and is something that we feel.  This is because it comes from our vision-based (right brain) cognition.  It is word-less.  The ultimate truth or life is essentially the same wonderment the first humans had about the world around them.  This strongly anchors the Eastern world view in the vision-based right brain. 

By contrast, the Western Mind is oriented towards science, or the left brain analysis of the world around us.  Although the Western Mind acknowledges the many unknowns about the world, those unknowns are not viewed as the ultimate truth to which we orient ourselves.  The unknowns are generally viewed as aspects of the world that science has not yet analyzed or been able to figure out.  The West trusts science as the arbiter of truth about the world, thereby strongly anchoring the world view in the left brain.

Another major difference between the Eastern and Western minds is their definition of success towards which the left brain strives. The West is driven by advancing the civilization.  This is accomplished largely through science and technology and increasing our abilities to utilize the world in order to gain greater comfort and satisfaction for individuals.  The West is driven by Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  The Eastern Mind, on the other hand, defines success in terms of attaining harmony and enlightenment.  Harmony and enlightenment are attained by approaching or attaining the truth about life. The Western objective is based upon the activities of the left brain and individual comfort and satisfaction. The Eastern objective is based on attaining human orientation towards the right brain truths about “life”.

Another East-West difference is the orientation towards group vs self.  Eastern philosophy emphasizes the responsibilities of the individual towards the group, whereas the Western mind is oriented towards the self or ego of the individual.  The Eastern orientation towards the group works well towards the objective of attaining group harmony.  The Western orientation leads towards greater agitation between individuals and stresses competition.  The Western emphasis on the individual also provides greater opportunity for individual contributions to be implemented at the group level and supports the objective of advancement.

Figure.  The Eastern Sensory Mind. The Eastern mind is strongly oriented towards the concept of the “world” located in our right brain.  It also emphasizes group over individual and the objectives of the left brain are the attainment of harmony and enlightenment. These are defined in terms of attaining harmony with the right brain concept of the world.   

Figure.  The Western Sensory Mind. The Western mind is strongly oriented towards science: the left brain analysis of the world.  There is also a stronger orientation to the individual than to the group.  The left brain objectives are likewise oriented towards advancements in using science and technology to advance individual and collective comfort.

Nisbett states: “My research has led me to the conviction that two utterly different approaches to the world have maintained themselves for thousands of years.  These approaches include profoundly different social relations, views about the nature of the world, and characteristic thought processes.”

These differences between the Eastern and Western minds are fundamental. Clear distinctions are easily observed even today – 2,500 years after their formations.  Of course, these are generalities, and the peoples and nations of the world are changing.  In fact, the recent advances in international travel and communication have significantly resulted in inter-mixing of these cultural philosophies.  Most of the change has involved infusion of Western Civilization into Eastern countries such as India and China.  This is mostly because the West has been so successful at using the left brain to harness the resources of the planet to improve human comfort.  Eastern countries are appreciating and choosing comfort over enlightenment. These situations will be discussed later.