Ambassador Quainton was definitely my favorite speaker. Maybe it was his personality, but he was the most engaging and interesting out of everyone we'd had come to speak.
I'm not an SIS major. And I actually don't really like history at all, but when he spoke about it I was honestly interested. What he had to say about knowing another country's history, and understanding that their starting point and your starting point may be different when approaching an issue was something I had never really thought about before but it made so much sense. Two people who come from different cultures and different ways of understanding something obviously don't view each other in the same light.
Maybe the reason why I found this so interesting was because it isn't just something to be applied to international relations--it applies to individuals as well. Any two people obviously don't view the world in the same light, don't have the same knowledge and beliefs, and therefore don't always start on the same page when approaching problems and issues.
Anyway, as a whole, I really really liked Ambassador Quainton. I found his stories were fascinating (and I'm so jealous because I want to travel!!) and I thought he was a very smart man with the kind of incredible past that I dream of one day having.
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You said that "Any two people obviously don't view the world in the same light, don't have the same knowledge and beliefs, and therefore don't always start on the same page when approaching problems and issues." In keeping with what the ambassador said, is it possible this is because of everybody's individual knowledge of personal history. For instance can the way I interpret an event can be slightly or greatly different than how you view an event? I think this is what your saying, along with that the way we are raised affects how we view things also. I once again agree. However, would you consider our lives before this point our personal history? The nation has a history, so we do too?
ReplyDeleteOf course we have histories, and they have a huge impact on how we view/approach issues. And the same goes for how others view our personal histories. For example, a businessman who was once a convict may often come into contact with people who only see him for his "history" as a criminal. If the businessman takes this into account, he will be more inclined to better communicating with these people, instead of creating more problems.
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