Victory Manual

Personal experience, especially when it’s limited, can lead a person to a counterfactual conclusion. This is true in all areas of life, and particularly true for people living in a foreign culture.

In my own social involvement within the foreign community of bloggers (and commenters) who live in Japan, I’ve read countless overgeneralizations, downright stereotypes, based on nothing but the author’s personal experience, or even just hearsay, regardless of its validity. These false conclusions are typically drawn from either (A) limited experience in terms of time, (B) limited experience in terms of region, (C) limited experience in terms of social interaction, (D) limited experience in terms of communication, or (E) a combination of any of the aforementioned.

One major factor feeding the flames is the pre-existence of stereotypes in information resources. What I think is happening is that individuals read a misleading bit of information in some book or on some website, take it at face value, and it ends up solidified when they encounter even a single incident that backs up the claim.

Now, it’s very hard not to base your assumptions on your own experience, because our view of the world is very much self-centered. It’s natural; I’m just as guilty of it as the next person. The difference is that I make an effort to take a step back from the scene and take in the whole picture. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not even perfect at making an effort to be unbiased, but I like to think that I’m getting better at it, and that’s all that matters.

Another thing that many are guilty of is only looking for evidence that supports their claims for any given topic, not evidence that discloses the truth. Again, I can’t say that I’m innocent of this either, but I hope I’m getting better at finding a wider range of information that both supports and falsifies my original theory.

Perhaps my biggest grievances are the spiteful opinions that people declare on issues revolving around cultural differences, especially in regards to foreigners in Japan. Typically, their logic in expressing their stance is riddled with holes, and as the discussion drags on it eventually ends in name-calling and denouncing the opposition as an apologist, as naive, or as daft. Actually, that’s politics in its rawest form, so there’s something to be learned from all of it.

Then you have individuals who have nothing to do but complain about situations they encounter, but don’t take any steps at understanding the root of the problem (which might even be their selves, heaven forbid!), and definitely don’t take any steps towards fixing the problem. Instead, they prefer to escalate the situation, pointing out all things that they perceive as being wrong in the opposition in an effort to destabilize it, therefore trying to establish their own opinions as “factual truth” on the matter. You’ll see this often on topics revolving around issues that foreigners who live in Japan aren’t comfortable with, or feel their own customs are more logical and therefore correct. The measures taken on these issues are often loud and obnoxious, and have very few positive results. On the contrary, they fortify the wall between cultures instead of breaking down the barriers.

Before I conclude this, let me just state that I do think there are problems that need to be addressed, on both sides. I just think it’s odd how so many of our false, pre-conceived notions and stereotypes are still hard at work in an age where information can be shared with the touch of a button.