<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span>Dear all,</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span>I find very interesting your remarcs about the different mindsets of Westerners and Chinese. I, ve been studying our Westerner mindset for decades, and one of the first aspects that hit me was our self assured assumption that we "know" the world, that we assume to be the way we describe it. An example> I suppose most of us has read the American Declaration of Independence>"...we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal...and they are endowed... with inalienable rights...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" (I am writing by memory, excuse me any inaccuracy). What surprised me at the time of my
first contact with the text is that most, if not all of the signants of the Declaration were slave owners: no one found it necessary, following such solemn words, to free their slaves. No one found it necessary to change the wording (" all white men are created equal" for instance ) and nobody, among the millions who applauded their words, were surprised, or suspicious of the contradiction.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span> In the French newspaper Le Monde, about 40 years ago, a French teacher talked about her perplexity when, while teaching Descartes in Burkina Fasso, her students found Descartes increasingly funny, and when she asked about the reason of their amusement they answered: "He speaks like the typical white guy: full of self assurance, knowing the words and using them to carry what he
wants them to carry".</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;">There are many similar examples of our inconsistencies, and this aspect might very well be related to what you call complexity, or rather, in our case, lack of it.</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;">Thrilling, isnt it?</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;">A pleasure to be able to talk to you about it, thanks</div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;">
Carmen</div><div><br></div> <div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir="ltr"> <hr size="1"> <font size="2" face="Arial"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">De:</span></b> Michel Bauwens <michel@p2pfoundation.net><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Para:</span></b> p2p-foundation <p2p-foundation@lists.ourproject.org> <br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">CC:</span></b> Nicol�s Mendoza <nicolasmendo@gmail.com> <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Enviado:</span></b> Domingo 17 de marzo de 2013 21:16<br> <b><span style="font-weight:
bold;">Asunto:</span></b> [P2P-F] Fwd: Synthesis - Chinese Thinking and Complexity<br> </font> </div> <div class="y_msg_container"><br><div id="yiv9232370827"><br><br><div class="yiv9232370827gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="yiv9232370827gmail_sendername">Greg Fisher</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:greg.fisher@synthesisips.net" target="_blank" href="mailto:greg.fisher@synthesisips.net">greg.fisher@synthesisips.net</a>></span><br>
Date: Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 8:40 PM<br>Subject: Synthesis - Chinese Thinking and Complexity<br>To: Michel Bauwens <<a rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:michel@p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank" href="mailto:michel@p2pfoundation.net">michel@p2pfoundation.net</a>><br><br><br>
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<font face="'times new roman', times, serif">Dear Michel, </font> </div>
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<font color="#0000cd" face="georgia, times, times new roman, serif" size="5"><b>Chinese Thinking and Complexity</b></font></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-size:13px;line-height:19px;">"...</span></i></span><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:georgia,;font-size:13px;line-height:19px;">when I talk about Complexity theory with fellow Westerners who are unaware of complex systems, I sometimes feel they think me insane because my framing sits uncomfortably with their view of the world. Equivalently, when I have the same conversation with Chinese people, they often think me insane because what I am saying is blindingly obvious.</span><span style="font-family: georgia, times, 'times new roman', serif;"><i><span style="font-size:13px;line-height:19px;">"</span></i></span><br>
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<font face="times new roman, times, baskerville, georgia, serif">At a conference I attended last week in Singapore, a question occurred to me about whether the Chinese mind-set is more conducive to Complexity theory than the Western mind-set. At the conference, research was presented suggesting there was a material difference between the two. I discuss this in the article, concluding that it might well be that the Chinese tend to think more "complexly" than Westerners. </font></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;"><span>Best wishes,<br>
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Greg Fisher</span></span></div>
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