Analysis Of David Brooks 'Harmony And The Dream'

Have you ever wondered how the world is dived? How come? . In “Harmony and the Dream” written by David Brooks he talks about the division faced in the world. Focusing on two types “ societies with and individualist mentality and ones with a collectivist mentality” (Brooks 1). He gives brief descriptions of what each is and how they differ. The purpose of the article is to bring awareness to the two different styles and why each might have come to be. Describing how each mentality is said to have developed, including an association with how individual cultures values may play a vital role in how they develop the mentality. I agree with the ideas Brooks described in the article, during the reading I was able to see how each culture is able

to make these distinct observations with examples provided.
Brooks describes an individualist mentality as ones that would make an association with the same category (Brooks 1). Collective mentality was described as the opposite, allowing for individuals with this type of mentality to make connections with relationships (Brooks 1). Brooks describes two different cultures and how each culture fits the different type of mentalities. Giving two examples of the questions asked during the research conducted to provide their results. Including:
“If you show an American an image of a fish tank, the American will usually describe the biggest fish in the tank and what it is doing.

If you ask a Chinese person to describe a fish tank, the Chinese will usually describe the context in which the fish swim.” (Brooks 1)

Brooks also uses the example:

“ . . .Showed Americans individual pictures of a chicken, a cow and hay and asked the subjects to pick out the two that go together, the Americans would usually pick out the chicken and the cow. They’re both animals. Most Asian people, on the other hand, would pick out the cow and the hay, since cows depend on hay.” (Brooks 1)

When I read the article I associated the collectivist mentality with the intricate artwork in the Asian culture. This was most likely because the article stated that Asian cultures have more of a collectivist mentality, leading them to make associations with relationships (Brooks 1). Similar to the example about the fish tank, when I think of some of the artwork displaying the coy fish, water, and often plants the overall piece flows together. From the pieces of art I have seen, there is cohesion of all the things in it, with all complementing one another instead of focusing on just one individual component of the

picture.
Individualist mentality from the article was associated with American culture. I thought to myself how I would have answered the fish tank question upon being asked. I would have probably done the same as the people asked in the original research and describe what the biggest fish was doing (Brooks 1). I came to that conclusion because I would have been more drawn to something that caught my attention; hens the biggest fish would stand apart from the rest. I am not sure as to why; maybe it is human nature to look for an attention grabber, the odd ball out.
Overall I enjoyed “ Harmony and the Dream”, because it gave a more in depth look at two distinct approaches in mentality. From the article you could learn about each mentality and what type of associations that could be made from them. How different cultures, fall into each category. I was able to make connections from this reading, to help my stance as to why I agreed with Brooks ideas.