Ours is a society that rewards sociopathy

[no one]

Humans suck! That's all there is to it.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

So, all their drug trafficking, protection rackets, and human slave trading are only directed at rival gangs?  Come on.

Boru

You're quite right. I should have said "unless you're involved in drug trafficking, protection rackets, and human slave trading." 

I stand suitably chastened.

So, criminals don't bother non-criminals except when they're engaging in their usual criminal activities.  Got it.

Boru

[Belacqua]

Humans suck! That's all there is to it.

I agree that we can count on people to do their worst. 

Fukushima Daiichi was so incredibly bad that it's hard to grok. And the Japanese government has dealt with it largely by making it illegal to report on it. 

Still, I think that in terms of our day-to-day lives, there are differences. Habits, fashions, institutions, propaganda, things held up as good examples -- all these can make a real difference in how the people we meet treat us every day. It can make the difference between constant aggression and rudeness that makes you want to die, and soft reinforcement that leaves you with a good impression. 

There are times and places where it's considered good to show one's lack of empathy -- to shout out one's judgment of whomever you see in the street. And there are other places where people register any differences they have in more courteous ways, or just don't feel the need to let everybody know. It makes a difference after a while.

[Mister Agenda]

Um, pretty sure protection rackets and sex trafficking don't confine themselves to criminal victims, even in Japan.

[Belacqua]

Um, pretty sure protection rackets and sex trafficking don't confine themselves to criminal victims, even in Japan.

The Yakuza is bad and does bad things.

Now back to my original point:

The macho man tough guy approach to dealing with difference of opinion is far more in evidence in the US than in Japan. In discussing metaphysics and other ideas, a person in Japan almost never has to put up with the Clint Eastwood approach that is common elsewhere (e.g. this forum).

[GrandizerII]

Um, pretty sure protection rackets and sex trafficking don't confine themselves to criminal victims, even in Japan.

The Yakuza is bad and does bad things.

Now back to my original point:

The macho man tough guy approach to dealing with difference of opinion is far more in evidence in the US than in Japan. In discussing metaphysics and other ideas, a person in Japan almost never has to put up with the Clint Eastwood approach that is common elsewhere (e.g. this forum).

I heard one time on YouTube (I think) that Japanese people aren't generally the type to argue about anything with anyone. And that they have a tendency to say "maybe" as an answer even to questions that have clear "yes" or "no" questions. Is this generally true from what you observe in Japan?

[Belacqua]

The Yakuza is bad and does bad things.

Now back to my original point:

The macho man tough guy approach to dealing with difference of opinion is far more in evidence in the US than in Japan. In discussing metaphysics and other ideas, a person in Japan almost never has to put up with the Clint Eastwood approach that is common elsewhere (e.g. this forum).

I heard one time on YouTube (I think) that Japanese people aren't generally the type to argue about anything with anyone. And that they have a tendency to say "maybe" as an answer even to questions that have clear "yes" or "no" questions. Is this generally true from what you observe in Japan?

Yes, direct confrontation is frowned on in daily life. 

This carries over a little bit into academic discussions. Of course people challenge and defend ideas in those situations, and will say if they find your defense unpersuasive. But in general the tone is more courteous.

In Japan I have never encountered personal insults or tough-guy language in discussing philosophical ideas, even in the bar following a conference. 

This is not to say that the academic level as a whole is flawless. There are some established people who should be challenged more -- not rudely, necessarily, but with less deference due to their position. In all the places I've ever studied, by far the worst teacher was at a mid-level prefectural university here in Japan. A complete failure.

[Rev. Rye]

In all the places I've ever studied, by far the worst teacher was at a mid-level prefectural university here in Japan. A complete failure.

So, what was his subject? Was he a war crimes apologist or was he merely incompetent?

[Belacqua]

In all the places I've ever studied, by far the worst teacher was at a mid-level prefectural university here in Japan. A complete failure.

So, what was his subject? Was he a war crimes apologist or was he merely incompetent?

Nothing to do with war crimes. He was supposedly doing research on an obscure Irish painter. 

He was just incompetent about teaching, and puffed himself up by making his students look bad. He would tell them to do something, not guide them in doing it, and then take pleasure in telling them they'd failed. I suppose in his mind this was some kind of tough love or something. 

I see it as a failure of character -- lack of empathy, misplaced confidence in his own wisdom.

[Anomalocaris]

Japanese culture is one which inculcate total mindfulness of one’s assigned role in society so thoroughly that the language’s sociolinguistic convention requires that pronouns used in daily conversation not only change depending on who one is in relation to who one speaks to, but who one is in relation to who one speaks about, and who the one spoken to is in relation to who is being discussed.

It is probably not an exaggeration to say Japanese culture bought its internal aversion to routine confrontation with the price of an inflexible conformity.

What is more, the measure of character of a society is not only how it treats its in group, but how it treats out groups.   In this Japanese culture has had little in its history to brag about even compared to many examples of distastefully xenophobic societies around the world.