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In the Mind of the Beholder
We all believe that we observe reality, things as they are, but what actually happens is that the mind interprets what the eyes see and gives it meaning. In other words, what we see is as much in the mind as it is in reality. If you consider that the mind of a person from one culture is going to be different in many ways from the mind of a person from another culture, then you have the explanation from that most fundamental of all cross-cultural problems: the fact that two people look upon the same reality, the same example of behavior, and see two entirely different things.
Any behavior observed across the cultural divide, therefore, has to be interpreted in two ways:
1. The meaning given to it by the person who DOES the action
2. The meaning given to it by the person who OBSERVES the action.
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