Cultural differences and uniqueness
Cultures not only have lingual differences but also traditional differences. Being a bilingual and multicultural college student, I am well aware how different international and national cultures can be. I was born in China and grew up there until eighth grade in middle school, and then I went to Chicago for the first two years of high school, after that I received my high school diploma and UCLA acceptance letter. After living in various places both in China and United States, I deeply learned how different the two countries are in terms of culture and stereotypes, which was mentioned by our professor Vesna. In China, we traditionally share dishes and use chopsticks, yet in U.S., we eat our own food with forks and knives. In Chicago, people generally gather up and spend a cozy time for Thanksgivings and Christmas, and the kids go trick or treating during Halloween, but here in Los Angeles, people regard Thanksgiving as the best time to do shopping instead of eating turkey, and there is no more trick or treating but more universal scary night.
Cultural differences can be
found anywhere. Just in my case, I regard UCLA campus has duel cultural:
residential and academic atmospheres. The residential atmosphere is always less
concentrated on homework and exams than the academic atmosphere. But without
any of them, UCLA wouldn’t be complete and brilliant. Here is a link to have a tour around the UCLA campus.
According Bohm, true creativity can only flourish when we cease to think mechanically. Art and science are intertwined with each other. He identifies a trend in art and science away from symbolism towards pure paradigms, which concentrate on relationships and the 'structure of ideas'. Being unique or having distinguished characteristics always make oneself stands out from others. And I believe such a statement is always true in various aspects and different cultures.
According Bohm, true creativity can only flourish when we cease to think mechanically. Art and science are intertwined with each other. He identifies a trend in art and science away from symbolism towards pure paradigms, which concentrate on relationships and the 'structure of ideas'. Being unique or having distinguished characteristics always make oneself stands out from others. And I believe such a statement is always true in various aspects and different cultures.
Sources:
1. Liu, Yunyun. Some findings about cultural Differences between China and USA. N.d. Photograph. People Development and MoreWeb. 3 Oct 2013. <http://yunyunliu.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/some-findings-about-cultural-differences-between-china-and-usa/>.
2. Carma, . The Impact of Uniqueness. 2010. Photograph. n.p. Web. 4 Oct 2013. <http://livinglifebydesign.com/wp-content/uploads/oneLightOn.jpg>.
3. Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. 137.149 (1986): n. page. Print.
4. Welcome to UCLA!. 2010. Film. 4 Oct 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1e11lsrSvw>.
5. Vesna, Victoria. "Intro." Two Cultures. UCLA. Los Angeles. Sept 2013. Lecture.
1. Liu, Yunyun. Some findings about cultural Differences between China and USA. N.d. Photograph. People Development and MoreWeb. 3 Oct 2013. <http://yunyunliu.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/some-findings-about-cultural-differences-between-china-and-usa/>.
2. Carma, . The Impact of Uniqueness. 2010. Photograph. n.p. Web. 4 Oct 2013. <http://livinglifebydesign.com/wp-content/uploads/oneLightOn.jpg>.
3. Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. 137.149 (1986): n. page. Print.
4. Welcome to UCLA!. 2010. Film. 4 Oct 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1e11lsrSvw>.
5. Vesna, Victoria. "Intro." Two Cultures. UCLA. Los Angeles. Sept 2013. Lecture.
I loved your reference of Bohm about creativity flourishing once we cease to think mechanically. It's definitely interesting to see your framing of life- seeing how you've been intertwined of different cultures and values. I definitely have personally gotten to understand that many curriculums that I've been exposed to in K-12 highly emphasized the mechanical aspect of learning. It's definitely interesting to see how the minds ability adjusts to thinking outside the box rather than inside or vice versa. Your blog was a nice read- thank you for posting!
ReplyDelete