Are You a Holistic or a Specific Thinker?
A traditional tenet of Western philosophies and religions is that you can remove an item from its environment and analyze it separately. Cultural theorists call this specific thinking.
Chinese religions and philosophies, by contrast, have traditionally emphasized interdependencies and interconnectedness. The Ancient Chinese thought in a holistic way, believing that action always occurs in a field of forces. The terms yin and yang (literally “dark” and “light”), for example, describe how seemingly contrary forces are interdependent. Chinese people think from macro to micro, whereas Western people think from micro to macro.
Read this article by Erin Meyer @ blogs.hbr.org
Chinese religions and philosophies, by contrast, have traditionally emphasized interdependencies and interconnectedness. The Ancient Chinese thought in a holistic way, believing that action always occurs in a field of forces. The terms yin and yang (literally “dark” and “light”), for example, describe how seemingly contrary forces are interdependent. Chinese people think from macro to micro, whereas Western people think from micro to macro.
Read this article by Erin Meyer @ blogs.hbr.org
