Wheat v. rice

In yesterday’s Times, T. M. Luhrmann, a professor of anthropology at Stanford, discussed the different cognitive orientations of people who grew rice (context sensitive, more cooperative) vs. those who grew wheat (context insensitive, more individualistic). 

Rice farmers need complex irrigation systems and lots of community activity.  Wheat farmers simply depend on the rain.  Luhrmann examines a study of Chinese north and south of the Yangtze.  North of the river, wheat is grown; south is a rice growing area.

Now for yesterday’s question.  The rice growers (more holistic, more context sensitive) said that the train and the train tracks belong together because they work together.  The wheat growers (more analytical, less context sensitive) said the bus and train go together, because they both carry people.

Since I picked the train and the train tracks, my orientation is evidently more toward the community rather than the individual. I grew up on what was essentially a communal farm (three brothers working together, splitting the work and profits equally).  At least I think that’s a good explanation.