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August 10, 2006

Confused Americans for Truth - Competition Causes Mental Illness in Japan, We Think

by Ferdinand T Cat

According to the Times Online, somebody, somewhere has issued a statement that claims Western business practices are causing a high suicide rate and low birth rate in Japan.

Japan suicide rate graphI don't blame the Times for saying this. When you're a journalist, it's very easy to believe anything you read in a press release.

Japan does have a suicide problem, but it's a stretch to attribute it to a specific cause. In the graph on the left, you can see a large spike starting in 1998. This was the year the East Asian Financial Crisis hit Japan, causing a surge in bankruptcies. The effects of that surge are documented in this article in the Asian Times, which goes into much more depth than the Times Online piece and avoids the latter's simplistic conclusion.

It is certainly plausible to say that a new emphasis on individual achievement is causing problems in a culture that once championed loyalty and devotion to the group, but it is equally plausible to say that a group-oriented culture is also in danger from group-oriented suicide. These are only hypotheses until we can demonstrate they are supported by additional evidence. For example, the Times Online article quotes an unnamed official of the Mental Health Institute as follows.

People tend to be individualised under the new working patterns. When people worked in teams they were happier.

This is a bald assertion, but it could have been verified by examining companies using merit pay and companies still using the old seniority system to see how they compare in terms of economic performance and job satisfaction. Indeed, we do not even know to what extent merit pay is the rule and how its rate of adoption compares to the suicide rate.

It's important be on the lookout for this kind of thing. Anybody can propose an argument that satisfies the rudiments of common sense, but that does not make it true. You have to find evidence. The grander the argument, the more powerful the evidence you have to acquire. It is this failure to temper sensibility with evidence that leads to liberals posting comments on this blog and accusing me of being naive. Obviously, I'm not happy about that.

So the next time you read a study that denigrates Western values, ask yourself how much of the study is based in fact and how much in supposition. Skepticism is after all the heart and soul of conservatism, and if there's one thing we've learned in the past few years it's that we need a lot more skepticism.

Respectfully submitted,

Ferdinand T. Cat

Trackposted to Third World Skeptic, Disbelieve the ACLU, Diane's Doubts, , SensibleKitty Magazine, Skeptical Star Chronicles, The Bullwinkle Doubts, Cigar Disbelief Agency, Adam's Evidence, Unsure about the Beltway, bRight and Skeptical, Jo's Evidence, and Basil's Continuing Attempt to Make Sense Out of Newspaper Headlines.

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Sadly, skepticism has led to so great a cloud of evidence that most "news" reports are

fabrications
outright lies
deceptive twisting of fact
or simply stupid

that I've reluctantly graduated from skepticism to cynicism.

"Reality-based fantasy" can quite often be substituted for "news" in translating the babble coming from Mass Media Podpeople.

Now, when I read a "news" report I more often than not read it (or listen to it) with a diagnostic eye (ear) to determine—if at all possible—whether the report shows signs of psychosis or sociopathy in the reporter/organization.

(Fortunately for the Mass Media Podpeople under my scrutiny, I'm too long out of p-sych study/work for my examination to be more than cursory. *heh*)


Posted by: David at August 10, 2006 10:42 AM

I seem to remember in the 80s there was a phenonemon in Japan about sararimen "working to death". This was before they got more westernized and started using merit. Doesn't sound very happy.

I don't think they were that happy before, when non performers got to keep their jobs and even window seats, they'd sit there reading the paper because no one wanted to give them work. For some reason being towards the center of a building was considered more prestigous, so the non performing who weren't even given work were at the windows!

It sounds more like they interviewed one psychologist who lets his desire to go back to the old ways cloud his judgement.


Posted by: PlutosDad [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 10, 2006 12:07 PM

Well said,i applaud your blog, mental health consumers are the least capable of self advocacy,my doctors made me take zyprexa for 4 years which was ineffective for my symptoms.I now have a victims support page against Eli Lilly for it's Zyprexa product causing my diabetes.--Daniel Haszard www.zyprexa-victims.com


Posted by: DannyHaszard [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 16, 2006 1:26 PM

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