RE: OT DID YOU KNOW? A fascinating and eye opening video about changes in the digital media age

["Sjaak" <tcplugin@scarlet.be>]

>From: ian.e.petersen@gmail.com [mailto:ian.e.petersen@gmail.com] On
Behalf Of Ian Petersen
> We don't? European culture can be traced at least as far back as
Chinese or Indian. 
> The difference is that Western culture has changed dramatically over
those thousands of years 
> - mostly for the better - whereas Asian culture has stood still for
much of that time. 
> India and China are now taking the lead because they, to a large
extent, are now 
> embracing western enlightenment values, at least where it comes to
economics and business. 
> And the US especially is losing its lead because, for the last couple
of decades, it has seen 
> the resurgence of religious superstition and anti-scientific thinking
that has kept Asia 
> and the Orient frozen for so long.

The video of Rick shows us that the world is bigger than just the
Western world. Here in the Belgium and The Netherlands (where I'm born),
you often here the media speak about the "yellow danger",
"globalisation" etc. All these terms breath a certain negative feeling
and raise all kind of questions, which is a pity. I agree with Ian that
I think Europe has been able to develop itself more than the Asia the
last 1000 years, both economicly and politically. Asia is definitely
"hot" at the moment, but I have not a clear picture when it comes to
culture. I have never been Asia, I wouldn't simply know :) What kind of
culturale values has Asia given the world? I know China is a country
with an incredible amount of unique and weird instruments, and we have
World music as a style which is highly influenced by Asian music and
religion. Let me ask you another question: do Asians create some kind of
experimental music? Ambient, Avant-Garde? Or do we consider these as
strictly "Western" because of the culturale differences?

Sjaak