为什么东亚企业重视饮酒？
East Asian businesses often go out drinking. Why is this such an important part of corporate culture, relative to other world regions?
东亚企业经常外出喝酒。相对于其他世界地区，为什么这是企业文化中如此重要的一部分？
A month ago, I didn’t know. Now, after my interviews with people in China and Korea, the answer is very obvious.
一个月前，我不知道。现在，在我与中国和韩国的人进行访谈之后，答案非常明显。
Collective harmony and hierarchy are strongly idealised across East Asia. Communication is thus implicit and indirect. Conflict aversion and emotional suppression make it harder to learn what someone else really thinks. So what’s the solution?
集体和谐和等级制度在东亚地区被强烈理想化。因此，沟通是隐含和间接的。冲突回避和情绪抑制使得更难了解他人真正的想法。那么解决方案是什么呢？
Alcohol reduces people’s inhibitions. This promotes social bonding and information-sharing. As argued in Edward Slingerland’s book “Drunk”, it benefits businesses! But this exact same cognitive shift also elevates risks of sexual abuse. Women may prefer to leave early. By doing so, they miss out on homosocial boozing and schmoozing.
酒精会降低人们的抑制力。这有助于社交联系和信息共享。正如爱德华·斯林格兰的书《醉》中所论述的那样，这对企业有益！但这种认知转变也增加了性侵犯的风险。女性可能更愿意早点离开。这样做，她们就错过了同性之间的酒精消遣和交际。
[
[
Late night in Seoul, my photo
深夜在首尔，我的照片
Cultures vary in how much they value direct or indirect communication. In “The Culture Map”, Erin Meyer helpfully details the global heterogeneity of communication styles. Americans are extremely direct, they say what they think. Brits are a bit more subtle. To be polite we sugar-coat criticism, in ways that can be confusing for outsiders. Japanese are even more indirect: one must read between the lines.
不同文化在重视直接或间接沟通方面存在差异。在《文化地图》一书中，Erin Meyer详细介绍了全球沟通风格的多样性。美国人非常直接，他们说出自己的想法。英国人则更加含蓄。为了礼貌起见，我们会用委婉的方式掩饰批评，这可能会...