Preconceived Notions

To me, it is very obvious that in general, the public is very poorly educated about Middle-Eastern and Asian history. Clearly, I am one of the many who is lacking any real knowledge concerning Asia whatsoever. For some reason however, I never really felt that my knowledge of Asia was lacking or that I couldn't talk about Asia. I believe that this is due primarily to the fact that I believed everything I heard about Asia. It is clear to me now that throughout my life, I have developed a stereotype or a preconceived notion about what Asia is like, and what Asia's history is like. I simply assumed that Asian history didn't really pertain to the rest of the world and that all of Asia was generally bland and basically a giant mass of land filled with a colossal amount of people, pollution, and sweatshops. I understand that this might be a bit overly-frank but truly, this is what came to mind when I thought of Asia. In my opinion, this is due to primarily a lack of interest in Asia from the American People. I now find it odd that hardly ever did I hold a conversation about Asian history, or Asia in general; and if I did, it was filled with rough stereotypes.

However, I have recently realized how important it is that we learn Asian history and culture. It is painfully clear that Asia, and specifically China is now the Superpower of the world. No longer does the world revolve around the United States, and for this reason we must adapt and learn in order to progress. I believe that learning about Asian history and culture will add a whole new and valuable perspective to life for me. I will be able to look at things in a different way, and to be able to tap into that knowledge at any time is an invaluable resource.