Diversity, obtuse philosophical thought, and the quest to get out of your own head.
Bertrand Russell doing his best smart guy look.
I’ve been re-reading some texts on cultural difference lately. Without the stress of a dissertation to finish, this process has been enjoyable. Today I came across this quote in Cultures and Organizations, a work by Geert Hofstede. The quote is not his, but from Bertrand Russell, a 20th-century philosopher.
Hofstede uses the quote to point out that researchers in his field have difficulty removing themselves from their own culture when trying to design assessments of cultural norms. It’s part of the big game of well-mannered smack talk that exists in academia - which I love to give my most enthusiastic eye-rolls. The quote is kind of dense, so just stay with me for a moment. I’d like to make a slightly different point.
“The manner in which animals learn has been much studied in recent years, with a great deal of patient observation and experiment. Certain results have been obtained as regards the kinds of problems that have been investigated, but on general principles there is still much controversy. One may say broadly that all the animals that have been carefully observed have behaved so as to confirm the philosophy in which the observer believed before his observations began. Nay, more, they have all displayed the national characteristics of the observer. Animals studied by Americans rush about frantically, with an incredible display of hustle and pep, and at last achieve the desired result by chance. Animals observed by Germans sit still and think, and at last evolve the solution out of their inner consciousness. To the plain man, such as the present writer, this situation is discouraging. I observe, however, that the type of problem which a man naturally sets to an animal depends upon his own philosophy, and this probably accounts for the differences in the results. The animal responds to one type of problem in one way and to another in another; therefore the results obtained by different investigators, though different, are not incompatible. But it remains necessary to remember that no one investigator is to be trusted to give a survey of the whole field.”
-Bertrand Russell, Outline of Philosophy, 1927
See what he did there? Hofstede uses the quote well to make his point about assessment design, but I think the quote is more applicable to well-intentioned people trying to bridge cultural differences.
Let me explain.
Imagine Joe. Joe works at an international school. Joe is a nice guy who wants to be better at dealing with international diversity in his school community. He is observant and thoughtful and tries hard to look for connections with those who are different from him. He knows that deep down everyone really has the same goals in life. He is happy with his progress. Joe feels that he deals with diversity well.
Joe is missing the point. Why? Because Joe can’t get out of his own head.
Joe is an American and his school is 70% American citizens. That makes him a member of the dominant culture of the school. In most situations he doesn’t really notice the culture of the school as “American” because he never has to deal with his cultural norms being different than the culture of the school. What he doesn’t see is that deep down everybody isn’t the same, and that the non-Americans have been adapting their behavior in order to be successful at the school or not doing so and dealing with being looked at as an outsider.
When Joe engages with people from other cultures at his school, he unconsciously looks for similarities. Those similarities reinforce the idea that “deep down we are all really the same” and mask differences which (depending on the culture) can be pretty significant. Like the animal observers in the quote that see similarities in behavior with their own national behavioral norms, Joe is missing important cultural differences because he can’t get out of his own head.
I think that part of the reason that we do this naturally is rooted in empathy. You need empathy to be able to truly understand other people, and with practice, you can get really good at it. It is a skill just like any other. Unfortunately, most people think of empathy as a moral virtue, and since no one wants to think of themselves as morally unfit, we constantly give ourselves the benefit of the doubt.
Getting out of your own head takes practice, but can be moved along by exposing yourself to situations in which you are not in your own culture. This can be done through things like study abroad or spending time with people who are not like you, being observant, and if appropriate, asking questions. It can also be done through literature, art, and participating in activities that force you to observe differences that you have been missing.
Remember that simple exposure to cultural difference alone is not enough to truly bridge cultural difference. You have to be willing to work at it, fail a ton, be humble, and above all, get out of your own head.