Chapter 1
Rule-Based Versus Relation-Based Systems
After a daylong meeting in New York, we—a group of Chinese businesspeople—went to a restaurant to eat. It was fun. “Together or separate checks?” The waitress asked us when we were almost done. “Together!” Someone shouted, and then a war broke out between us over who should pay. But if you think that we were trying to get someone else to pay, then you are wrong. Each of us competed for the bill.1
Why do the Chinese always compete to pay while most Americans “go Dutch” when a group of people eat out? Does this mean that in general the Chinese are more generous than Americans? Similar puzzles abound. For example, why do strangers usually smile or nod at each other when they pass each ...
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