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Permalink Reply by Mike Park on January 30, 2012 at 11:40pm

Darren - I am not sure if I had addressed your points of curiosity or interest. Please let me know if I had missed the boat. In Korean we have a phrase - 동문서답. This means that a question came from the east, but the answer was provided from the west. In other words, since the answer did not also come from the east (as it should be, or as expected), this phrased in used when a completely different answer is provided to a question....again, I hope I am not (wasn't) too far off from what you had originally wanted to have addressed...

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Permalink Reply by Darren QX Bean! on January 31, 2012 at 11:43am

Mike that was mostly what I was looking for, a Korean perspective on what is often seen as "flawed style" and how it has/can work if used in a different cultural setting.  The part about blacking out impossible based on Napoleon is memorable.  But how do you black out a digital dictionary?  ^^

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Permalink Reply by Darren QX Bean! on January 31, 2012 at 11:54am

I think there are entire subsets of philosophy dedicated to debating simple/complex life ... in any case there is a psychological tendency generally to romanticize the past (be it 10 or 100 years ago).  My personal observation is excess breeds waste, and seeing more means wanting more, so actual improvements in standards of living are offset psychologically -- the humble Pino family I stayed with a year ago saved every grain of rice despite no fridge.  When I went for happy hour in downtown San Diego, we threw away entire plates of sliders, and many people complained about needing more money (you get my drift I think).

Side note:

Personally I think there is an overemphasis on education in Korea.  Wait--before you slap me--not everyone needs a 4-year degree (or higher) for their job.  Some recent Joongang and Herald articles have talked about the increase in trade schooling.  There is another KBC thread just posted on tuition cuts and if they're a good thing but since it's mentioned here 75% college graduation with higher unemployment means more people in more debt and I wonder if it really benefits society.  (This coming from an American, you know we all drop out, right?  Ha.)

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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on February 1, 2012 at 12:21am

Regarding the overemphasis on education in Korea,Professor Ha-Joon Chang made that very same point in our interview ... This part of the interview was pretty much ignored while members were debating other points. :)

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Permalink Reply by Mike Park on February 2, 2012 at 10:16pm

Darren,

First on Korea's Education: Korea's definition of education, and its education system, is vastly different from the United States.  It has placed overemphasis on taking tests, passing exams, and then getting certified for life.

The joke goes like this....a man (educated in Korea) breaks the law (while driving) everyday and does not feel guilty about it - not one iota. Why? He scored a perfect 100% on his driving test (the highest score in the country) - so he is feeling that he can't do any wrong for the rest of his life......the education system needs to be completely re-engineered so that emphasis in placed on - for example - nurturing a sound mind in a strong body" rather than producing exam-taking human machines and very radical social rituals. 

And now second (and going back to the original article) - I am hoping that I can try to avoid the 7 traps (7 bad habits) the author had pointed out via this discussion thread; while keeping mindful the original 7 habits - something to takeaway..

When dealing with many different companies, I feel that every company is very different - very very different - so it is difficult (notice I didn't say impossible) to generalize only-unique-to-Korea-in-this-world cultural traits which are native to Korea. If we are talking about 1 specific company (however) in Korea, then perhaps there'll be much more to be said.

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