[Buddha-l] re. fundamentalism

[StormyTet at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/5/2005 12:29:50 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
jkirk at spro.net writes:

We  learned multiplication tables up to 
12, they learned them up to 20. A lot  of this facility is based on parental 
training in memorization ability,  something our education system has given 
up on.  I have wondered too  if there is a genetic factor in the general 
amazing math capability in  South Asia. Brainiacs galore.
 
An anecdotal story: I spend a lot of time in a computer lab and have made  
several friends from India and Bangledesh. One day we got into a conversation  
about different abilities based on nationality. He was an engineering major  
(said that there was a lot of pressure in India to be an Engineer -- he was from 
 Bombay) and was talking about a group project with another young man from 
India  and a man from China.  He talked about how long it took for the man from  
China to feel competent in an area but that he worked non-stop and when he 
knew  it he knew it inside and out. Indians seem more mercurial to me and my 
Chinese  friends seem as if they are pacing themselves and live for work. Your 
story  helps me understand why he just shook his head in disbelief at my  stress 
concerning SPSS. 
 
 BTW, I just finished reading an interesting ethnography by Marie  Gillespie 
about the punjabi's in Southhall. It was a fascinating read in  terms of the 
impact of diaspora and globalization. "Television, Ethnicity and  Cultural 
Change."




Stormy
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