Assumptions about snowmen
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This document discusses cultural differences in how snowmen are typically constructed. In North America and Europe, snowmen are usually built with three snowballs to represent the head, torso, and legs. However, in East Asia snowmen typically only use two snowballs, representing the human body as two units - the head and body - rather than three. This stems from the Japanese word for snowman, which refers to a snow doll or person based on a Buddhist symbol represented with two parts. The document cautions against making assumptions and encourages considering that concepts can be understood differently in other cultures.
Assumptions about snowmen
- 1. The Assumptions We Make (About Snowmen)
- 2. How many snowballs are needed to make a snowman? Your answer: _____.
- 3. If you said three, you are probably a North American or European. Image source: Wikipedia
- 4. Did you know that in East Asia, a snowman typically has two snowballs? Image source: Wikipedia
- 5. Apparently, some people think of the human body represented as one unit (one snowball) and others as two units. Why is this? Well, in Japanese, the word for snowman is yuki daruma, meaning snow doll or snow person. The word daruma comes from the Buddhist dharma and is most often represented by a red, bearded doll. Image source: Wikipedia
- 6. So, it seems we have conflicting systems of logic here. Is the body divided into three parts: head, torso, and legs? Or into two parts: head and body? Keep this in mind the next time you make assumptions about the way something is supposed to be. You just may be in for a surprise.
- 7. Postscript A while back, the author was surprised to learn that a tricycle isnt always a tricycle. In the U.S., trikes have larger front wheels than in the back. In Japan, all three are the same size.