Citation

I thought that the video we viewed yesterday was quite interesting. In particular, I was interested to see the strange diagram in the textbook in the film. This was a diagram that tried to visually depict thought processes across different cultures. The English thought process was just a straight line while the Asian language thought process was a spiral moving form the outside to the center, and the rest were various kinds of zig zags. It seemed pretty ridiculous, but I'd like to know how they came about it.

Moving on though, I had a few problems with the film. In particular, I had an issue with the woman who discussed the different opinions on Citation. She explained that in China, where the society is more community based, they do not consider plagiarism to be as big of an issue. On the other hand, in America where our society is more centered on the individual, we treat it more seriously. This is true, I think, but it does not really speak to the true importance of citation. Yes, we are more individualistic and are concerned with not stealing other people's property (whether physical or intellectual), but that is not why citation is done. We cite, and this is true of all of western civilization I think, because it promotes the growth of knowledge. In history and english classes I have taken, history specifically, citations are not made to give credit where credit is due (although that is indeed an issue), rather it is done so that other readers may verify that what the writer is claiming is true and to use those sources to expand upon that interpretation or to offer a new one.

It is always important to consider other cultures and the fact that our way is not the only way. The differences in citation are not important in the sense of differing ideas on what is stealing and what is sharing. The difference are important, however, to whatever extent they affect knowledge in general, in that context, I consider things like citation to be an issue on which there should be little compromise.