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15 類別化の危険
10 The Japanese often say to me, "Do you have anything tha
bothers you here in Japan?" To be honest, "I have." It is the
Japanese unconscious habit of classifying everything into ranks
Which is better, they ask, America or Japan, California oranges or
5 mikan, and so on. People everywhere do this to some extent, but
the Japanese more than others. What is the matter with these
questions?
2 Needless to say, there are times when one product is superior
to another. It is possible, then, to compare two things of the same
10 kind and price in order to judge their quality. But there is no
saying whether peaches are better than apples or whether blue is
better than green. A person may prefer peaches to apples, but he
can't *categorically say that the one is better than the other.
3 Many a thing in life can't be categorized so simply. Take
15 Japanese and American cultures for example. It is foolish to say
that American culture is inferior to Japanese culture. They have
different histories, languages, *manners and customs. It is
impossible to say that one is better than the other. When one is
not aware of these differences and makes a value judgment, it
20 gives rise to dangerous misunderstandings.
(注) categorically 「断定的に, 頭から」 manners and customs
Check!!.
