Chapter 1 - The Syllogism and the Tao

My first impression after reading the first chapter was,
hey, maybe this Nisbett guy is challenging us to "think critically"....

the reason why I thought this way is that although he provides many many interesting views on ancient Greek and ancient Chinese people, those stories had no sufficient reasons to support them.

But one of the insightful views I've found interesting was in page 6, when the author says:
"Individual rights in China were one's share of the rights of the community as a whole".
When I read this part, I immediately remembered the Japanese lacking sense of individualism. Japanese are often said that they tend to stuck in groups all the time and hesitate insisting something by him or herself alone.
I thought this phenomenon is somehow related to Nisbett's statement.

Although what the writer says might be true, and it sounds like true, we have to be skeptical to his points made in this chapter. He does not actually states enough evidence and explanation to argue the differences between westerners and easterners. Thus, I think we should not simply believe his idea, for instance, that ancient Greeks emphasized individual values while ancient Chinese thought differently and tried to create harmonious society.
Once again, Nisbett had reminded me the importance of thinking critically on the issues even if those seem to be true.