tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post8178410926267169792..comments2024-03-18T07:07:53.346-04:00Comments on Ask a Korean!: Culturalism, Gladwell, and Airplane CrashesT.K. (Ask a Korean!)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07663422474464557214noreply@blogger.comBlogger157125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-14272795278746163492015-12-01T22:51:49.009-05:002015-12-01T22:51:49.009-05:00Speaking as an Asian (specifically of Chinese orig...Speaking as an Asian (specifically of Chinese origin; my family immigrated when I was young to North America) Canadian myself, I respectfully disagree with this and believe that Gladwell got more right than he got wrong.<br />\<br />What he got wrong:<br />- Western airlines don't all have good safety records either. I've known people who work in the aerospace industry and privately they've voiced concerns before. <br /><br />What he got right:<br />- There are Korean airlines with a terrible safety record <br />- Power distance plays a huge role and Asian cultures have a huge amount of it (I would argue to a destructive extent)<br /><br />If you look at power distance, it does play a huge role. <br /><br />This is a good article about how it works in business:<br />https://hbr.org/2012/04/in-asia-power-gets-in-the-way/<br /><br /><br />Filial piety is another example. In Asian society, there is a certain mentality of "authority makes right" and that one should not openly contradict one's seniors. I have noticed that amongst many Eastern Cultures. East Asia (and I'm not saying that the East Asian cultures are the same, but there are certainly similarities the way you would say the Western nations are similar in some ways).<br /><br />I can see though how it would make it intimidating for co-pilots to openly contradict their superiors. The problem I have with "The Korean"'s argument is that to disprove that power distance doesn't play a role, he would have to prove that the co-pilot directly challenged the authority of the pilot (thereby invalidating the power distance argument).<br /><br />On the note of the BP Oil Disaster, there have been articles challenging the "short term profit" culture that I would argue is the most serious problem in Western business. <br />http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/26/deepwater-oil-spill-trial-bp-failure<br /><br />Western business is far from perfect as is Western culture. So too is Korean culture. It shouldn't be considered cultural-ism to criticize either of them. AltandMainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01014823246265859953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-60692409639763482662014-05-06T10:32:36.746-04:002014-05-06T10:32:36.746-04:00"The single most important variable in determ..."The single most important variable in determining whether a plane crashes is not the plane, it’s not the maintenance, it’s not the weather, it’s the culture the pilot comes from."<br />Have you actually checked this? <br />Listen to the interview, CAREFULLY and notice that he does not say this. If you are to write an article, make sure your sources are well backed-up, especially when you quote someone. Same goes for Patrick Smith.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13882903531689633017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-43623840246461684072014-03-22T19:24:59.074-04:002014-03-22T19:24:59.074-04:00Cultures lie on a spectrum. They also have central...Cultures lie on a spectrum. They also have central tendencies on a variety of factors - power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity et. al. And so, not all persons have all the primary tendencies of a culture - as each being can very well be iconoclastic, if they desire. <br /><br />Gladwell, who obviously struck a negative cord with you, has at least introduce us to a cultural differences conversation. I am 100% sure he had an editor, who may be partly responsible for obvious oversights, omissions, and factual errors. That's doesn't free Gladwell from responsibility for what he writes, but it puts a context to it. Rightly, he should be able to do a better job on inconsistencies.<br /><br />But, you also projected an indictment on his motivations - as if he was attacking you personally. <br />----"Culturalism may not be the same thing as racism, but they share the same parent: the instinct to connect race or ethnicity to some kind of indelible essence. Because culturalism and racism are two streams from the same source, the harms caused by culturalism are remarkably similar to those caused by racism."----<br /><br />As a southern-born U.S. male, I should be equally offended by his referencing a U. of Michigan study about aggressive behavior, which boils down a whole group of people to NOT being able think rationally about threats, unable to let go of slights. <br /><br />But I too need not defend Gladwell at all. He' likely attached a label in that passage too. Should I be writing a critique to say, don't worry about where I came from???<br /><br />You are right that we are individuals. But we too are programmed through a whole host of cultural, educational, and parental cues. If you didn't, well, you must be a rare breed to have never been at all stimulated in such manners. And of course, you'd say that.<br /><br />It's fine to be critical. But you also have a duty (or honor to uphold) in refuting anything Gladwell says. It's the title of your blog - seems very important to you to define yourself as "Korean." So, while I understand the host of mistakes you found in the recounting his blunders,<br />don't equate his story with the very worst in humanity.<br /><br />---"And here, we come to the greatest harm that culturalism causes: like racism, culturalism destroys individual agency. Under culturalism, a huge group of individuals are rendered into a homogeneous mass of automatons, eternally condemned to repeat the same mistakes. We still don't know what exactly caused the Asiana crash. But it is hardly outlandish to think that it was a simple human error. To err is human, as they say--but culturalist explanation robs Korean pilots of this basic humanity. Because of our culturalist impulse, a Korean pilot cannot even make a mistake without tarnishing all other Korean pilots."----<br /><br />I'd say the opposite. If Gladwell mentioned nothing, this crash would be glossed over, and unimportant. (I mean we got more crashes for media consumption.)<br /><br />The cultural identity question has become more relevant even through Gladwell's errors. Seems, people, like myself, actually took the time to write your blog. And I have no Korean experiences other than an East Asian Politics class at Purdue, where, 75% of my classmates were Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. <br /><br />Keep making a difference, individually, but don't ascribe too many motivations (other than selling copy) to besmirch your culture. BTW, Gladwell's "Canadian" so there never offensive, right? (That's a joke...)<br /><br />Nomarlesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12924394930116307020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-102651238508592812013-12-03T15:19:38.588-05:002013-12-03T15:19:38.588-05:00Great post! I enjoyed it! Then I enjoyed it writin...Great post! I enjoyed it! Then I enjoyed it writing about it too.<br />http://uncurb.me/2013/12/03/critique-of-a-critique/fuzkittiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02193348848035538127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-6397945146830743262013-11-26T07:52:10.019-05:002013-11-26T07:52:10.019-05:00I have always been skeptical of Malcolm Gladwell, ...I have always been skeptical of Malcolm Gladwell, so I am glad to see my position vindicated so eloquently. Superb piece of writing, well done. Surface Detailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13976491263320698991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-79426548435029670032013-10-16T14:32:13.395-04:002013-10-16T14:32:13.395-04:00Your points are just so exciting. The moral... inv...Your points are just so exciting. The moral... involve relevant stakeholders in your work or in your process. We'll all benefit if we involve relevant stakeholders in our work. AND, narrow views produce narrow, and harmful outcomes or conclusions. Build a nuanced view of the world that honors people as individuals.<br /><br />My hope is that Gladwell desires to know the truth. And, i hope if he read this that he would comment and participate and reveal his process. I'm holding judgement on the nastiness of his negligence as I'd really like to hear his reaction to this critical account of his work. I'm also hoping that his intent is genuine (ok... lacking rigor, offensively so) and not misled by perilous interest in stretching truth to create dramatic narrative in order to make millions off a block buster book.Bjornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08620338817187789377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-12995473886922766342013-09-04T15:12:28.397-04:002013-09-04T15:12:28.397-04:00Great article. I wish I would have read it sooner ...Great article. I wish I would have read it sooner and prevented words from coming out of mouth which confirm my ignorance.eclecticdoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01484091437305697367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-33309994013043234482013-08-13T03:11:49.105-04:002013-08-13T03:11:49.105-04:00I finally sat down for 15 minutes to read the enti...I finally sat down for 15 minutes to read the entire article. Such a great work! It opened a new perspective for me. Culturalism is dangerous and can be harmful.Sungmoon Chohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14640753763804997158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-56715602170359760582013-08-07T02:42:07.340-04:002013-08-07T02:42:07.340-04:00kdufos your doing it rite. but I ate a bad dumpli...kdufos your doing it rite. but I ate a bad dumpling in Korea once. Discuss.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-38789578442959598802013-08-07T02:37:09.834-04:002013-08-07T02:37:09.834-04:00no no why they're bad drivers and even America...no no why they're bad drivers and even Americans with expert training and constant drilling can't manage to overcome their 'Mericanness and avoid running over and killing girls lying on the runway.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-58419150303420235112013-08-06T23:43:20.142-04:002013-08-06T23:43:20.142-04:00They just don't think you know what you're...They just don't think you know what you're talking about. I'm not being facetious. One of the major issues expats run into is that Koreans will not ENGAGE foreigners which comes off as arrogance. Like "your opinions are not even worth discussing." In fact the Koreans are trying to be polite in the face of extremely rude behavior but from an American perspective this is not kindness but extremely frustrating. Those Koreans who are "resistant" to your "external evaluation" know they are better educated & probably much smarter than you are and they don't want to listen to whatever you read on wikipedia or on a blog about their country regardless of the other courtesies they have shown you as a foreigner.<br /><br />Koreans are typically open to both foreign critique & subject to a torrent of internal (Korean) criticism. This is because of a Confucian emphasis on improvement & self criticism as well as the fact that technical expertise (such as in flying a plane) is entirely dependent on foreign expertise. In this very case AAK is the exception among Koreans, not the rule. There's been little pushback to Gladwell's assertions @KAL flight or US media's coverage of Asiana. Why? Nothing to do with Malcom being a foreigner or being black it's because he's a well respected writer to whom Koreans extend a level of credibility. Try being an actual expert on something & see how Koreans respond to you. I do training & Koreans are among the most hardworking & bright eyed staff I've worked with in the US or Asia. That's because I know what I'm talking about, not trying to aggrandize my own import by lecturing them on crap<br /><br />If you're respectable Koreans will ask YOU what you think of them and of Korea, the US etc. Just the fact you haven't reached that point in a Confucian culture means you lack the respect. Simple.<br /><br />The issue you have is not "Koreans." Go try telling blacks gun violence in Chicago is a result of violent culture or Jews that treatment of Palestinians is cultural egocentralism. People just don't like to be told random things about their culture, nor for tragedy& misfortune to be used for some small social currency by bottomfeeders on the internet. The issue isn't Koreans, it's you. The question is why you feel "qualified" to give your two cents about Korea when you'd keep your trap shut trying to lecture African Americans on Trayvon Martin or Israelis on the West Bank Wall. I mean yes your mom told you, you are a special snowflake & so did mine but it's a bit of hard baked paternalism in our American culture which purports to engage in "external evaluation" of those recalcitrant Asians for their own benefit<br /><br />Look at the substance of the "external evaluation" you profer here. AAK is an American, you realize that right? He's ethnically Korean but he's as American as you are, yet you can't even acknowledge that offering "external evaluation" of him. Just this fact is very problematic in considering you a valid "external evaluator" about anything, rather than say a racist or an idiot<br /><br />I'm American too so let me offer external evaluation of my own. Any cultural bias AAK may have is going to be a product of our shortcomings as a culture here in the US 1st&foremost. The argument he is making @culture is an AMERICAN argument similar to crticism of loaded media characterization of Islam. It is not a Korean one<br /><br />As to your pressing question, you realize AAK was saying that Gladwell doesn't know shit about Korea right?He's more qualified than Gladwell because Gladwell doesn't know anything about the subject. Presumably you're on a SITE precisely because the man purports to have some expertise in Korean culture. If you dispute those credentials why would you even be on this site? It's nonsense. I hope my disagreeing w/you won't make you form some generalized discomfort with my American culture. CheersAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-37236717513817065782013-08-02T10:33:26.808-04:002013-08-02T10:33:26.808-04:00While I agree with your characterization of the bo...While I agree with your characterization of the book, I don't think I praised 먼 나라 이웃 나라. I'm pretty sure all I ever said about the book was that it influenced me as a child. T.K. (Ask a Korean!)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07663422474464557214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-30161911166649958642013-08-02T09:26:38.106-04:002013-08-02T09:26:38.106-04:00TK: Despite your aversion to culturalism, you have...TK: Despite your aversion to culturalism, you have a lot of praise for 이원복's 먼나라 이웃나라, which in my view is an unabashed orgy of over-simplified culturalism. Worse is that its main readers are children who, at a most uninformed and impressionable age, can easily form misguided biases on different nationalities that are of exactly the same nature as what you take issue with in this post. Don't you think such a comic series is dangerous?kdufoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02257578717290994869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-53049096874275985292013-07-29T22:53:33.647-04:002013-07-29T22:53:33.647-04:00MIGs and mountains are both matters of odds; plent...MIGs and mountains are both matters of odds; plenty of pilots go off-course without hitting mountains (most of them, probably), and plenty of flights end up in the wrong airspace without getting shot down, but that doesn't mean that the pilot who does fly into a mountain (or a missile) ought to be forgiven their error because of the rarity of the event. Which isn't to say that the cultural argument is any more valid as applied to those Russian-doomed flights, but neither is it fair to say that they don't count as Korean place crashes just because they were really weird Korean plane crashes.Jim Coylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14074865776213389505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-34046549638283075192013-07-24T16:23:34.594-04:002013-07-24T16:23:34.594-04:00Benny7/19/2013 12:35 PM
A few problems with The K...Benny7/19/2013 12:35 PM<br /><br />A few problems with The Korean’s explanation:<br /><br />(1) He obviously despises the "cultural" explanation, which he describes as being more often imagined than real (without any backup on that claim). But scientifically speaking, how else are social scientists to analyze outliers found over and over again in particular cultures? Dumb luck? These aren't Southwest planes going down.<br /><br /><br />You're right, it's not like a Southwest plan crashed recently. There has to be a cultural reason why that flight crashed. I refuse to see it as merely a technical accident. Either way, let's slap some irrelevant cultural reason of why Americans are terrible pilots and apparently produce shoddy landing gear.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18243624893629586575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-64199618863531247412013-07-23T06:16:55.273-04:002013-07-23T06:16:55.273-04:001) Yes, although a long time ago (private pilate&#...1) Yes, although a long time ago (private pilate's license a loooong time ago). In high school I had friends who were flying solo about the same time they got their driver's permit. The 'extensive pilot training' is focus less on 'how to fly the plane' and more on flight safety: how to recognize potential issues before they become a problem, how to handle emergencies, faulty equipment, bad weather etc. <br /><br />2)It's relevant because in the circumstances involved, the pilots in the cockpit really really have to screw up big-time to crash the plane. No mechanical issues that I'm aware of. Beautiful weather. Visibility not an issue. No emergencies in the cockpit that I'm aware of.<br /><br />Planes literally fly themselves, and the plane will land where you point it. How the crew didn't realize they were too low is baffling. And I'm assuming the runway had a standard, working visual approach slope indicator that no pilot in the world could possibly miss, and would have certainly told everyone in the cockpit they were too low ('red over red / you're dead'). <br /><br />The entire cockpit somehow missed the most obvious clues in the world. Crashing a plane in these circumstances takes either truly astounding incomptence (hard to believe an entire cockpit of professional pilots didn't know how to fly a plane)....or maybe someone didn't speak up when they should have. <br /><br />3) Reasons already outlined in sufficient detail by others above.<br /><br />4) Numerous examples, not all related to 'life and death' situations but that were clearly 'this is very very wrong but I won't speak up because I don't want to risk embarrasing my boss' etc. It's not specific to Korean culture by any means (see crash, Tenerife).S. Uristahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14875549977434372719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-35566547230868171062013-07-22T06:51:25.246-04:002013-07-22T06:51:25.246-04:00S. Urista, I won't say you missed the point. B...S. Urista, I won't say you missed the point. Because I don't even know what you're arguing. If time allows, can you please explain your points?<br /><br />You said...<br />1) Flying a plane is easy<br />2) Asiana plane crashed in good weather<br />3) Golf/airlines analogy is ridiculous<br />4) Pilots will put priority on their manners in emergency situations<br /><br />---<br /><br />1) Well, I'm not a pilot, so I don't know. Are you a pilot? If flying a plane was so easy, why do they train pilots so extensively? Also, how is this relevant?<br />2) What are you trying to argue? How is this relevant?<br />3) Why is the analogy ridiculous? Please explain.<br />4) Where did you see this first hand?<br /><br />I thought the whole discussion was at least somehow related to culture, but your comment does not mention that concept.Harryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01615077749015449290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-32596307292331270292013-07-22T04:44:34.778-04:002013-07-22T04:44:34.778-04:00"It is not an easy task to land a giant, fast..."It is not an easy task to land a giant, fast-moving tube of metal onto a small, defined target while keeping everyone inside the tube alive. Each landing of a jumbo jet may as well be a small miracle."<br /><br />Um, no it's not. Teenager can do it. Flying a plane is like driving a car in some respects - easier, in many respects (usually no need to worry about some drunk running a stop sign at 30,000 feet). It appears like a 'miracle' to the tragically ill-informed like the authoer here because mistakes are usually A Big Deal, unlike a fender-bender on I-94, but landing a plane essentially requires the skill needed to parallel park. Seriously. <br /><br />In the Asiana flight, on a perfectly working plane, beautiful - perfect, even - weather conditions, visibility to infinity? Crashing was the equivalent of being in the Disney Land parking lot and hitting the only other car parked there.<br /><br />The whole golf/airlines analogy is ridiculous, as has been rightly pointed out already. No, I 'didn't miss your point', I think you tried to make a point with the analogy and failed miserably. <br /><br />"Do you really think the tendency will hold when the pilots are hurtling toward killing themselves and hundreds of others? "<br /><br />Having seen it first hand, yes. Yes I do. <br /><br />Love how people not agreeing with your thesis 'missed the point'. Hint: If they didn't get the point, it's not the reader's fault. S. Uristahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14875549977434372719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-54564671335507242932013-07-22T04:34:22.352-04:002013-07-22T04:34:22.352-04:00TK was too aggressive on some parts, yes. He shoul...TK was too aggressive on some parts, yes. He should not assume that Gladwell is using stereotypes or brand him "culturalist". TK is arguing that Korean plane crashes are not due to cultural reason, albeit affected by it.<br /><br />One could really argue both sides, whether culture caused the accidents or it did not. Again, whether culture played a role is not the question. It did. What is being asked is, how significant was its role?Harryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01615077749015449290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-68730146809717210852013-07-22T04:19:47.978-04:002013-07-22T04:19:47.978-04:00Benny,
(2) TK did mention that Korean planes wand...Benny,<br /><br />(2) TK did mention that Korean planes wandering into Russian airspace could be viewed as pilots' fault, but he also wrote that such explanation is not completely fair. TK and Gladwell do not mention how often these "wanderings" happen. Maybe they happen often, but are unreported because the planes don't get shot down. Or maybe the ground crew (or the Russian air force!) has partial responsibility as they failed to warn the pilot. How about the North Korean terrorist attack case? Sure, it's only one case, but one out of seven mentioned is significant. That's 14%. You surely wouldn't blame AA/UA for 9/11? So I'm not saying it wasn't the pilot's fault. What I am saying is that the statistics can be misleading. Maybe American Airlines has less accidents because its planes don't get shot down by Canadians.<br /><br />(3) TK answered "why would the 1st officer feel compelled to stay quiet instead of react?" by writing that he did speak up. Besides, what is Gladwell's main point? Isn't it that Korean culture caused the airplane crashes? One of the supporting arguments is that the first officer and flight engineer stayed silent because of the seniority of the pilot. If this is not true (for example, they did speak up) then Gladwell's point stands on shakier ground.<br /><br />(4) Your argument is too simple. You can't say that the change in (form of) language has absolutely no effect in manners of speech. Because it does. Language might not "drive" culture, but you cannot deny that it plays a significant role. You might have been better off arguing that the crew was using Korean in the quotation selected by Gladwell and TK.<br /><br />(6) TK being Korean does give him more authority, because he largely talks from his own knowledge of Korean culture. If he was Swedish who has never been to Korea, you would criticize him for failing to back up more of his points, no?<br />Harryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01615077749015449290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-7017036809580112752013-07-21T01:22:00.384-04:002013-07-21T01:22:00.384-04:00Three young girls were killed in this Air crash.
A...Three young girls were killed in this Air crash.<br />As per the Coroner report, one of these girls was actually killed by a Fire Engine.<br /><br />It will be interesting to see how this author "attributes" this death to.<br />Would it get classified as "bulldozing culture" ?<br />I didnt have the patience of reading this long article due to intermittent reference of Golf which seemed rather irrelevant and insensitive to this topic, but is there any mention of how crew behaved to save lives of the passengers ?<br />I guess it was worth a praise, but where a frustrated air crew member gets of the aircraft by opening emergency gate, and gets praised as a hero, I think its hard for someone to understand what culture really is. <br />As Korean Giants like Samsung, Hyundai start doing well all over the world, start "hurting" global / local giants, it will be become fashionable and intellectual to talk about Korean culture.<br />No need to take this so seriously.Anandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390189301757254313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-37972342945000399172013-07-19T19:52:49.081-04:002013-07-19T19:52:49.081-04:00I mean this in the kindest of terms...but no name ...I mean this in the kindest of terms...but no name makes a valid point. The post felt very defensive. Cultural studies aren't racist in nature.<br />Bennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17767630942743698826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-39535579887710217662013-07-19T12:35:05.166-04:002013-07-19T12:35:05.166-04:00A few problems with The Korean’s explanation:
(1)...A few problems with The Korean’s explanation:<br /><br />(1) He obviously despises the "cultural" explanation, which he describes as being more often imagined than real (without any backup on that claim). But scientifically speaking, how else are social scientists to analyze outliers found over and over again in particular cultures? Dumb luck? These aren't Southwest planes going down.<br />Using this guy's golf example: If Koreans could not consistently land a putt, then it was discovered that Korean golfers couldn't say no to their caddies and were using 5 irons to putt with, a cultural explanation would be valid, whether The Korean likes it or not.<br /><br />(2) The Korean uses the same "fallacies" to critique Gladwell with which he tries to expose Gladwell. He writes:"KAL Flight 007, which crashed in 1983. Reason for the crash? It traveled into Russian airspace, and the Russian jets shot it down. It is strange that Gladwell does not mention this..."<br />I find it strange that The Korean doesn't seek out the reason the Korean flight "wandered" into Russian air space. Does The Korean have an alternative explanation? Were both officers asleep at the wheel? Drunk? Why did both pilots miss this horribly important point? The Korean just admits this could be attributed to pilot error. Uh, yeah. Big Oops.<br /><br />(3) His examples of Gladwell's "egregious misquotations" are not egregious at all. Gladwell's main point is never sufficiently addressed. Why would the 1st officer feel compelled to stay quiet instead of react? The “possibility” of missing the mountain or the certainty of it aren’t the larger issue here.<br /><br />(4) The Korean’s point about speaking in English v. Korean (his point #4) misses the greater argument. The cultural influences still exist even if the pilots chose to converse in Pig Latin. These were not Americans who chose to limit themselves to the contraints of an Asian language and its traditions. They were Korean.<br /><br />(5) For The Korean to even indirectly equate a social scientific form of questioning (with regard to culture) with racism is ignorant in every sense of the word. He feels like Gladwell is stereotyping instead of asking the pertinent questions. I think the question "Why didn't the 1st officer scream 'We're about to hit a mountain'" is a pertinent question. Either way, Gladwell brought up an interesting point - one that resonates with many American expats who move to South Korea. Often their experience with Korean culture allows them to see a hierarchal structure in place that the indigenous are possibly blind to (at least partially). Koreans are often accused of being blindly deferential to superiors, even when it is obviously not expedient. To even insinuate this sort of cultural observation is somehow racist shows the weakness of The Korean’s argument. He still hasn't disproven Gladwell's premise, although he deigns to call it garbage.<br /><br />(6) The Korean is…well…Korean. This fact doesn’t exclude him from the right to comment, nor does it make his arguments any more or less correct. It does, however, beg the question why he needs to do so in such an emotional way. Whether he likes it or not, I doubt this guy would feel compelled to demonstrate Gladwell’s premise as “garbage” if he were Swedish. The Korean has still completely failed to address the larger question in the first place: "Why are all these Korean planes going down?"<br /><br />Summary: This guy hurts his own arguments (which are unscientific in the first place) with emotional comments and half-baked criticisms. <br />Bennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17767630942743698826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-7670669595411634582013-07-19T10:57:03.867-04:002013-07-19T10:57:03.867-04:00KAL 007: International Civil Aviation Organization...KAL 007: International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) simulation and analysis of the flight data recorder determined that this deviation was probably caused by the aircraft's auto pilot system operating in HEADING mode, after the point that it should have been switched to the INS mode.[8][21] According to the ICAO, the autopilot was not operating in the INS mode for one of two reasons. Either the crew did not switch the autopilot to the INS mode (shortly after Cairn Mountain) or they did select the INS mode, but the computer did not transition from INERTIAL NAVIGATION ARMED to INS mode because the aircraft had already deviated off track by more than the 7.5 nautical miles (13.9 km) tolerance permitted by the inertial navigation computer. In both scenarios, the autopilot remained in the HEADING mode, and the problem was not detected by the crew.[Arihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00703560768404831149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-29262837123668304922013-07-17T11:56:24.185-04:002013-07-17T11:56:24.185-04:00@Turgid,
"You actually commit a number of log...@Turgid,<br />"You actually commit a number of logic fallacies with this haphazard statement. But you seem to be in a rush to get to the beef of your argument... disproving Gladwell"<br /><br />I repeat You seem to be in a rush to get to the beef of your argument... disproving AAK. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13960272375009828772noreply@blogger.com