(....continued from Part 1)
"What Mark Zuckerberg knows, but, Trump doesn't" would have been more appropriate for the title of this portion. Since this, however, is a continuation of a Part 1 and for the sake of continuity of referencing, the title is as captioned.
In my Birthday Greetings to my daughter (see earlier post on Happy Birthday, Janice), I took the opportunity there to subtly demonstrate the different mindsets of WASP and Chinese as I am conversant with both Worldviews.
Notice the different cultural mindsets expressions for my fondness of my daughter.
WASP : Apple of Daddy's eyes - fondness expressed in soft terms of a likeable fruit eaten daily for good health. Exudes the love and goodness in a wholesome father/daughter relationship.
Chinese : Thousands of Pieces of Gold Young Lady - fondness expressed in materialist (see post on Minor Conversation) value of gold. Love is a function of the reality of wealth and prestige.
More Examples of such differences but far from exhaustive : WASP name buildings using proper nouns. The Hilton Hotel, Carnegie Hall, etc. Chinese use adjectives. Sincere Building, etc. Or verbiage phrases to depict grandeur and profligacy of a building e.g. The Palace of the Golden Horses (PGH) which is a grand hotel in Malaysia.
Misunderstandings and unintended jokes come out of the PGH instance and you need to imagine the whole mouthful of words to see the funny side.
Upon confirming to a WASP friend of mine that I have booked him into the PGH, he retorted : Come on, man, you are not putting me up in a stable. Don't you have hotels in Malaysia ?
On inviting another WASP friend for dinner at the PGH, he wittily remarked ; We're having Sunshine Hay and Grass Salad ?
There is clearly a difference in the fundamental settings of the templates for the Language of Thought (Mentalese) between the WASP and Chinese cultures.
It is possible therefore when a Chinese is signaling and communicating friendliness, a WASP can mistakenly based on WASP cultural settings, interpret them for being hostile. And Bang, Bang... it's Dick Cheney all over again - shot a friend.
Famous WASPs fell in love with China after living there. Bertrand Russell, Joseph Needham to name a couple out of many. Mark Zuckerberg took up residence in Singapore, a Chinese spawned City State. There must be many things great and good if you understand the Chinese Way in its correct context.
BE A GREAT PRESIDENT, MR TRUMP, LEARN FROM ME ABOUT CHINA AND THE CHINESE.
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