They borrowed technology, practices, institutions which could all have been argues as only functioning w/in specific context...
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...and in doing so, adapted them to fit their own contexts. Any imitation on our part today would work out the same way!
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If they had relied only on their past experiences, they would never have modernized. If they had insisted on "greenfield" ideas...
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...that is, making up modernization for themselves instead of imitating modern countries, they would ALSO have never modernized.
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American urbanists today seem largely stuck between those two: either limit our actions to things we've tried before...
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...or pin our hopes on some untested ideas that may never materialize at all (hi Elon). We're allergic to learning by example.
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It's difficult to imagine things you can't experience first hand
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For sure--we need exchange programs!
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Let's be honest, a culture that preaches "The nail that sticks out is hammered down" has little other choice.
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To be the best, you need two things: - recognize you're not there yet - get taught by one who is USA refuses both of these, Japan didn't
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...moreover, the saying isn't unique to Japan; we say things like "pride goes before a fall" etc to convey the same point
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I like the Japanese way of first outmatching foreign ideas to only then criticize them.
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I was in Japan earlier this year. It was amazing. There is so little fat, barely any land is wasted in any way. Even villages are dense.
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That's the key thing--even in places where there's tons of available space, they build things close together!
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Seeing those towns go by from the Shinkansen was enlightening. And rail was convenient to *everywhere*. I fell in love.
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