Where you live..and who you become because of it
The reason I am coming back to this issue, is because of a quip I heard, by Adrian Collard, VP of Regional Marketing for MasterCard Worldwide, that leading brand company Y&R were told that “You need to be in New York”, which prompted them to set up shop in Madison Avenue in 1926.
One of the things that has constantly fascinated me is the nature v.s nurture argument. It is most assuredly cyclical in some sense, and also one of those issues that will never ever elicit the right (or wrong) answer.
However, we cannot deny that certain places are great incubators for certain ideas, with the iconic examples being Silicon Valley and innovation, New York houses Wall Street and the Finance gurus and Cambridge attracts the intellectuals, as stated in this interesting article.
We are all susceptible to influences from our environment, like it or not. This matter is especially close to my heart as I continue to redefine and examine how being in different places, situations and countries can shape who I am. To date, I’ve spent a year in Australia, half a year in America, and the rest of my life mainly in Singapore. That pretty much makes it a couple of times I’ve had to deal with culture shock, coming back to reverse culture shock, and also how all these experiences lead to subtly different ways of processing information, or even changes in my own mannerisms.
On another note, I also like how Adrian mentioned that he enjoyed watching TV to understand the culture of any country. This is something I believe in, although my variation of it involves collecting newspapers more than watching advertisements, because..TV is so before Web 1.0.
Tags: cities, incubators, environment, influence, culture, sociology, life, Adrian Collard,
Dorothy,
What a thought provoking subject. I enjoyed reading your insights on culture shock and the ideas of location. One of my favorite quotes is from Napoleon – “Geography is destiny.”
Best,
Kh
author, janeology