Midterm Paper- Time: East vs West


Each culture in the world views time differently. In western culture, time is perceived to be more linear. In America time is valuable on a financial level. Anyone in the western business world typically believes that time is money. Also in the western business world, they believe that making quick decisions is important. If a decision isn’t made right away then time is being wasted and so is their money. Westerns are not as careful with considering how it may affect the future and what mistakes have been made in the past. For the westerns its efficiency they value. Time is closely related to life, money, and efficiency. Westerns don’t view the lessons of the past like the Chinese do, they determine how the past lessons were by how the present situation is. The west very much values the present.
While in the Eastern world time is viewed not linear but cyclic. Time is precious and the world has an abundance of it, with this abundance allows them to wait for the perfect time. Every day the sun sets and the sun rises, the four seasons change into one another. Time is a cycle and this cycle is precious, so when eastern do business they are not in a rush to make business decisions. They also always are early verses being just on time. Which shows how they value others time. When eastern society makes business decisions they take the time to evaluate the past, present and the future outcomes and influences. In Chinese culture, age, experiences, teachers and the elders are the authorities this is because they have experienced the past. Eastern culture greatly values the lessons from the past, which is why they honor their elders so much. Their elders have the greatest wisdom from their experiences in the past.
When I was in China I personally noticed a great difference in how the Chinese handled time versus the westerns. Even when I was in the big cities there was a deep stillness and Zen behind people riding the subways and going to work. While in the west everyone seems to be in a rush. I found that the Chinese don’t mind taking their time, and they often found time for themselves. Which commonly involved sitting with tea. While in America everything is a rush. It’s common for people to have quick lunch breaks and are always on the go. I think it’s safe to say that both the eastern and western cultures value time, but they just go about it in different ways. In the west, time is linear and the east time is a cycle. Both perspectives are unique, but similar in many ways.

Comments

  1. Jodi ForbesJuly 16, 2019 at 11:50 AM

    I noticed that when I was in China as well, that no one really seemed to rush. Laborers worked at a reasonable pace, like it was more important to get things done well rather than fast. People strolled, relaxed, socialized. At first I assumed it was because of communism and how their economy worked, but it makes sense that its deeply cultural as well. I like how they value their time, that its cyclical rather than linear, which makes more sense to me on an intuitive level anyway.

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