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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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today I'm going to take you around the
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world in 18 minutes my base of
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operations is in the US but let start at
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the other end of the map in Koto Japan
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where I was living with a Japanese
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family while I was doing part of my
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dissertational research 15 years
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ago I knew even then that I would
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encounter cultural differences and
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misunderstandings but they popped up
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when I least expected it on my first day
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I went to a restaurant and I ordered a
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cup of green tea with sugar after a
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pause the waiter said one does not put
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sugar in green tea
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I know I said I'm aware of this custom
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but I really like my tea
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site in response he gave me an even more
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courteous version of the same
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explanation one does not put sugar in
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green
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tea I understand I said that the
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Japanese do not put sugar in their green
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tea but I'd like to put some sugar in my
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green
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tea surprised by my insistence the
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waiter had to took up the issue with the
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manager pretty soon
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a lengthy discussion ensued and finally
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the manager came over to me and said I
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am very sorry we do not have
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[Applause]
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sugar well since I couldn't have my tea
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the way I wanted it I ordered a cup of
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coffee which the waiter brought brought
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over
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promptly resting on the saucer were two
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packets of
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sugar my failure to procure myself a cup
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of sweet green tea was not due to a
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simple misunder understanding this was
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due to a fundamental difference in our
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ideas about Choice from my American
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perspective when a paying customer makes
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a reasonable request based on her
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preferences she has every right to have
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that request met the American way to
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quote Burger King is to have it your way
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because as Starbucks says happiness is
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in your
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[Applause]
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choices but from the Japanese
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perspective it's their duty to protect
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those who don't know any
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better in this case the ignorant gin for
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making the wrong
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choice let's face it the way I wanted my
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tea was inappropriate according to
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cultural standards and they were doing
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their best to help me say
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face Americans tend to believe that
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they've reached some sort of Pinnacle in
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the way they practice choice they think
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that choice is seen through the American
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lens best fulfills an innate and
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Universal desire for choice in all human
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humans unfortunately these beliefs are
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based on assumptions that don't always
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hold true in many countries in many
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cultures at times they don't even hold
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true at America's own
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borders I'd like to discuss some of
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these assumptions and the problems
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associated with them as I do so I hope
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you'll start thinking about some of your
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own assumptions and how they were shaped
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by your
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backgrounds first assumption if a choice
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affects you then you you should be the
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one to make it this is the only way to
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ensure that your preferences and
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interests will be most fully accounted
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for it is essential for
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success in America the primary locus of
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choice is the individual people must
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choose for themselves sometimes sticking
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to their guns regardless of what other
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people want or recommend it's called
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being true to
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yourself but do all individuals benefit
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from taking such an approach to choice
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Mark Lipper and I did a series of
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studies in which we sought the answer to
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this very question in one study which we
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ran in Japan Town San Francisco we
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brought 7 to nine-year-old Anglo and
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Asian-American children into the
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laboratory and we divided them up into
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three groups the first group came in and
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they were greeted by Miss Smith who
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showed them six big piles of anagram
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puzzles the kids got to choose which
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pile of anagrams they would like to do
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and they even got to choose which marker
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they would write their answers with when
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the second group of children came in
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they were brought to the same room shown
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the same anagrams but this time Miss
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Smith told them which anagrams to do and
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which markers to write their answers
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with now when the third group came in
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they were told that their anagrams and
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their markers had been chosen by their
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mothers in reality the kids who were
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told what to do whether by Miss Smith or
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their mothers were actually given the
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very same activity which their
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counterparts in the first group had
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freely chosen with this procedure we
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were able to ensure that the kids across
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the three groups all did the same
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activity making it easier for us to
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compare
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performance such small differences in
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the way we administered the activity
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yielded striking differences in how well
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they
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performed anglo-americans they did two
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and a half times more anagrams when they
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got to choose them as compared to when
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it was chosen for them by Miss Smith or
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their mothers it didn't matter who did
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the choosing if the task was dictated by
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another their performance
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suffered in fact some of the kids were
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visibly embarrassed when they were told
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that their mothers had been
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consulted one girl named Mary said you
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asked my
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mother in contrast Asian-American
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children perform per best when they
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believe their mothers had made the
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choice second best when they chose for
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themselves and least well when it had
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been chosen by Miss Smith a girl named
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natsumi even approached Miss Smith as
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she was leaving the room and tugged on
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her skirt and asked could you please
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tell my Mommy I did it just like she
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said the first generation children were
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strongly influenced by their immigrant
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parents' approach to choice for them
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Choice was not just a way of defining
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and asserting their individuality but a
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way to create community and Harmony by
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deferring to the choices of people whom
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they trusted and respected if they had a
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concept of being true to oneself then
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that self most likely composed not of an
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individual but of a
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collective success was just as much
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about pleasing key figures as it was
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about satisfying one's own
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preferences or you could say that the
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individual's preferences were shaped by
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the preferences of specific
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others the Assumption then that we do
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best when the individual self chooses
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only holds when that self is clearly
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divided from others when in contrast two
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or more individuals see their choices
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and their outcomes as intimately
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connected then they may amplify one
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another's success by turning choosing
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into a collective
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act to insist that they choose
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independently might actually compromise
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both their performance and their
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relationships yet that is exactly what
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the American Paradigm demands it leaves
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little room for interdependence or an
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acknowledgment of individual fallibility
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it requires that everyone treat Choice
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as a private and self-defining act
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people that have grown up in such a
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paradigm might find it motivating but it
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is a mistake to assume that everyone
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thrives under the pressure of choosing
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alone the second assumption which
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informs the American view of choice goes
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something like this the more choices you
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have the more likely you are to make the
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best choice so bring it on Walmart with
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100,000 different products and Amazon
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with 27 million bucks and match.com with
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what is it 15 million date possibilities
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now you will surely find the perfect
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match Let's test this assumption by
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heading over to Eastern Europe here I
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interviewed people who were residents of
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formerly communist countries who had all
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face the challenge of transitioning to a
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more democratic and capitalistic
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Society one of the most interesting
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Revelations came not from an answer to a
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question but from a simple gesture of
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hospitality when the participants
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arrived for their interview I offered
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them a set of drinks Coke Diet Coke
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Sprite seven to be exact during the very
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first session which was run in Russia
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one of the participants made a comment
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that really caught me off
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guard oh but it doesn't matter it's all
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just soda that's just one
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choice I was so struck by this comment
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that from then on I started to offer all
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the participants those seven sodas and I
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asked them how many choices are these
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again and again they perceived these
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seven different sodas not as seven
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choices but as one choice soda or no
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soda when I put out juice and water in
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addition to these seven sodas now they
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perceived it is only three choices juice
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water and
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soda compare this to the diard devotion
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of many Americans not just to a
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particular flavor of soda but to a
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particular brand
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you know research shows repeatedly that
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we can't actually tell the difference
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between Coke and
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Pepsi of course you and I know that coke
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is the better
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choice for modern Americans who are
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exposed to more options and more ads
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associated with options than anyone else
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in the world choice is just as much
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about who they are as it is about what
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the product is combine this with the
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assump asson that more choices are
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always better and you have a group of
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people for whom every little difference
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matters and so every choice matters but
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for Eastern Europeans the sudden
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availability of all these consumer
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products on the marketplace was a deluge
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they were flooded with Choice before
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they could protest that they didn't know
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how to
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swim when asked what words and images do
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you associate with with Choice Gregor
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from Warsaw said ah for me it is fear
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there are some dilemmas you see I am
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used to no choice Bowden from Kiev said
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in response to how he felt about the new
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consumer Marketplace it is too much we
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do not need everything that is there a
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sociologist from the Warsaw survey
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agency explained the older generation
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jumped from nothing to Choice all around
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them they were never given a chance to
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learn how to
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react and thas a young polish man said I
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do not need 20 kinds of chewing gum I
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don't mean to say that I want no choice
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but many of these choices are quite
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artificial in reality many choices are
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between things that are not that much
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different the value of choice depends on
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our ability to perceive differences
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between the
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options Americans train their whole
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lives to play Spot the Difference
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they practice this from such an early
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age that they've come to believe that
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everyone must be born with this ability
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in fact though all humans share a basic
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need and desire for choice we don't all
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see choice in the same places or to the
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same
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extent when someone can't see how one
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choice is unlike another or when there
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are too many choices to compare and
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contrast the process of choosing can be
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confusing and frustrating instead of
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making better choices we become
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overwhelmed by choice sometimes even
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afraid of it choice no longer offers
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opportunities but imposes constraints
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it's not a marker of Liberation but of
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Suffocation by meaningless
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minutia in other words Choice can
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develop into the very opposite of
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everything it represents in America when
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it is thrust upon those who are
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insufficiently prepared for it but it is
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not only other people in other places
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that are feeling the pressure of ever
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increasing Choice Americans themselves
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are discovering that unlimited Choice
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seems more attractive in theory than in
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practice we all have physical mental and
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emotional and emotional limitations that
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make it impossible for us to process
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every single choice we encounter even in
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the grocery store let alone over the
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course of our entire lives
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a number of my Studies have shown that
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when you give people 10 or more options
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when they're making a choice they make
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poorer decisions whether it be Health
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Care investment other critical areas yet
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still many of us believe that we should
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make all our own choices and seek out
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even more of them this brings me to the
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third and perhaps most problematic
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assumption you must never say no to
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choice
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to examine this let's go back to the US
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and then hop across the pond to
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France right outside Chicago a young
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couple Susan and Daniel Mitchell were
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about to have their first baby they'd
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already picked out a name for her
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Barbara after her
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grandmother one night when Susan was
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seven months pregnant she started to
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experience contractions and was rushed
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to the emergency room the baby was
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delivered through a C-section but
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Barbara suffered cerebral anoxia a loss
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of oxygen to the brain unable to breathe
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on her own she was put on a
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ventilator two days later the doctors
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gave the Mitchells a
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choice they could either remove Barbara
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off the life support in which case she
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would die within a matter of hours or
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they could keep her on life support in
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which case she might still die within a
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matter of days if she surv survived she
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would remain in a permanent vegetative
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state never able to walk talk or
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interact with
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others what do they
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do what do any parent
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do in a study I conducted with Simona
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bti and Christina orali American and
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French parents were interviewed they had
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all suffered the same tragedy in all
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cases the life support was removed and
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the infants had died but there was a big
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difference in France the doctors decided
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whether and when the life support would
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be removed while in the United States
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the final decision rested with the
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parents we
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wondered does this have an effect on how
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the parents cope with the loss of their
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loved
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one we found that it
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did even up to a year later American
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parents were more likely to express
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negative emotions as compared to their
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French
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counterparts French parents were more
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likely to say things like Noah was here
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for so little time but he taught us so
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much he gave us a new perspective on
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life American parents were more likely
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to say things like what if what
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if another parent complained I feel as
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if they purposely tortured me how did
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they get me to do
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that and another parent said I feel as
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if I've played a role in an
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execution but when the American parents
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were asked if they would rather have had
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the doctors make the decision they all
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said
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no they could not imagine turning that
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choice over to another even though
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having made that choice made them feel
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trapped guilt y angry in a number of
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cases they were even clinically
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depressed these parents could not
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contemplate giving up the choice because
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to do so would have gone contrary to
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everything they had been taught and
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everything they had come to believe
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about the power and purpose of
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choice in her essay The White Album Joan
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didan
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writes we tell ourselves stories in
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order to live we interpret what we see
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select the most workable of the multiple
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choices we live entirely by the
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imposition of a narrative line upon
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disperate images by the idea with which
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we learn to freeze the shifting
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fantasmagoria which is our actual
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experience the story Americans tell the
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story upon which the American dream
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depend pends is the story of Limitless
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choice this narrative promises so much
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Freedom happiness
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success it lays the world at your feet
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and says You Can Have Anything
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everything it's a great story and it's
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understandable why they would be
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reluctant to revise
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it but when you take a close look you
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start to see the holes and you start to
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see that the story can be told in many
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other
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ways Americans have so often tried to
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disseminate their ideas of choice
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believing that they will be or ought to
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be welcomed with Open Hearts and
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minds but the history books and the
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Daily News tell us it doesn't always
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work out that way the
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fantasmagoria the actual experience that
00:18:53
we try to understand and organize
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through narrative varies from place to
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place
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no single narrative serves the needs of
00:19:03
everyone
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everywhere moreover Americans themselves
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could benefit from incorporating New
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Perspectives into their own narrative
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which has been driving their choices for
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so
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long Robert Frost once said that it is
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poetry that is Lost in
00:19:26
Translation this suggests that when
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whatever is beautiful and moving
00:19:31
whatever gives us a new way to see
00:19:34
cannot be communicated to those who
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speak a different
00:19:38
language but Joseph broadsky said that
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it is poetry that is gained in
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Translation suggesting that translation
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can be a creative transformative
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act when it comes to choice we have far
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more to gain than to lose by by engaging
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in the many translations of the
00:20:02
narratives instead of replacing one
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story with another we can learn from and
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revel in the many versions that exist
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and the many that have yet to be
00:20:14
written no matter where we're from and
00:20:18
what your narrative is we all have a
00:20:21
responsibility to open ourselves up to a
00:20:24
wider array of what choice can do and
00:20:27
what it can represent
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and this does not lead to a paralyzing
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moral
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relativism rather it teaches us when and
00:20:38
how to act it brings us that much closer
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to realizing the full potential of
00:20:44
choice to inspiring the hope and
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achieving the freedom that choice
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promises but doesn't always
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deliver if we learn to speak to one
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another albeit through
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translation then we can begin to see
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choice in all its strangeness
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complexity and compelling
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Beauty thank
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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you thank
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[Music]
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you Shea there is a a detail that about
00:21:25
your biography that we have not written
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in the program book but by now it's
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evident to everyone in this room you're
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blind and uh I guess one of the
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questions in everybody's mind is how
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does that influence your study of
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choosing because that's an activity that
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for most people is associated with
00:21:41
visual inputs like Aesthetics and color
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and uh and so on well it's funny that
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you should ask that because one of the
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things that's interesting about being
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blind is you actually get a different
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vantage point when you observe other the
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way cited people make choices and as you
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just mentioned there's lots of choices
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out there that are very visual these
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days you know I like you know as you
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would expect get pretty frustrated by
00:22:04
choices like what nail polish color to
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put on because I have to rely on what
00:22:07
other people suggest right and I can't
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decide and so one time I was in a beauty
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salon and I was trying to decide between
00:22:14
two very light shades of pink and one
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was called ballet slippers and the other
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one was called
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adorable B and so I asked these two
00:22:24
ladies and the one lady told me well you
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should definitely wear ballet slippers
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so what is does it look like well it's a
00:22:30
very elegant shade of pink okay great
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the other lady tells me to wear adorable
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what does it look like it's a glamorous
00:22:38
shade of
00:22:40
pink and so I asked them well how how do
00:22:42
I tell them AP part what's different
00:22:44
about them and they said well one is
00:22:46
elegant the other one's glamorous okay
00:22:48
we got that and the only thing they had
00:22:50
consensus on well if I could see them I
00:22:52
would clearly be able to tell them
00:22:56
apart and what I wondered was whether
00:22:58
they were being affected by the name or
00:23:01
the content of the color so I I decided
00:23:03
to do a little experiment so I brought
00:23:05
these little these two bottles of nail
00:23:07
polish into the laboratory and I
00:23:09
stripped the labels off and I brought
00:23:11
women into the laboratory and I asked
00:23:12
them which one would you pick 50% of the
00:23:15
women accused me of playing a trick of
00:23:17
putting the same color nail polish in
00:23:19
both those
00:23:23
[Applause]
00:23:26
bottles you at which point you start to
00:23:28
wonder who the tricks really played on
00:23:30
now of the of the women that could tell
00:23:33
them apart when the labels were off they
00:23:35
picked adorable and when the nabs when
00:23:37
the labels were on they picked ballet
00:23:40
slippers so as far as I can tell A Rose
00:23:44
by Any Other Name probably does look
00:23:47
different and maybe even smells
00:23:49
different thank
00:23:51
you thank you
00:23:58
[Music]
