"Looking at the Sun"

The central argument of this book is that Western societies, especially America, have been using the wrong mental tools to classify, shape, and understand the information they receive about Asia. They try to fit the facts into familiar patterns and categories--and then are hurt and frustrated when predictions derived from these patterns don't come true (5).

Fallows names the causes of this ignorance in the West: the need to convert others, the belief that it is better than other cultures, and too much faith in science. These flaws keep the United States and the West from understanding the different cultures of Asia. If the West does not understand Asia, then it will be impossible for the West to deal with Asia with respect. Also, the West will not understand why Asia has become an economic success. The West will not be able to learn from the nations of Asia as long as the West believes it is always superior to Asian nations.

Fallows says that he learned many things in his travels in Asia which showed him he had been wrong in his thinking. For example, he found that the Japanese people did not want to be like the people of the West as much as he had imagined:

After centuries of having to listen to Western rulers and look up to Western technology, more and more Asian leaders--the politicia

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