Chapter 14, Culture as an Irrational Force Summary and Analysis

The concept of logic is an invention of Western culture and dates back to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. It uses low-context paradigms in the analysis of ideas, concepts and mental processes. Other cultures have different methods of arriving at equally-correct decisions and often the alternate methods use higher-context frames than the linear, low-context, logical frames of Western culture.

Different types of irrationality lead to correspondingly different levels of difficulty in dealing with them. There are at least five levels to observe irrational or counterproductive behavior, and can be labeled as situational, contextual, neurotic, institutional, and cultural.

Situational irrationality arises when a specific situation occurs that leads to counterproductive or anti-social behavior. Contextually, irrational situations arise when people apply inappropriate logic from one context to another. Neurotic irrationality pertains to people becoming...