March 7, Chapter 6 response

Chapter six discusses a topic known as uncertainty avoidance. According to the book, uncertainty is “defined as the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations.” (pg. 191) This idea was demonstrated in particular by a question in a survey that asked whether rules should be broken even if it’s for a good cause. Countries that displayed a greater amount of tension and uncertainty avoidance among its people expressed a greater desire to adhere strictly to the rules (pg. 190-191). I think this seems plausible since the people would feel a lot more pressure in those countries to act submissively towards authority. I don’t feel as if it is a good thing because authority isn’t always right. Instead of avoiding them, leaders should strive to accommodate for improvements when they become available because they are good for society as a whole.  
Another idea that was expressed was that countries with a greater level of uncertainty avoidance have a tendency to be more open about their feelings. Because they do not suppress their feelings, they were less prone to die of coronary heart disease. (pg. 196) I find this interesting because in a civilized society it seems as if it is considered a good thing to control one’s emotions in order to get along better with people. On the contrary, it appears as if it is healthier to relieve one’s feelings to get rid of some of the stress in one’s life. 
A third idea that struck my interest was that people in uncertainty-tolerant countries were reported to feel healthier than those in countries with a higher level of uncertainty avoidance. This makes sense to me since less stressful people should be happier and, hence, healthier. Furthermore, I found the way in which doctors treated patients to be interesting as well. The doctors in uncertainty-tolerant countries focused more on talking to the patients and getting to know them whereas the countries that were less uncertainty-tolerant felt the necessity of giving more drugs into the patients to cure them. (pg. 202-203) I don't think that this is the best way to treat patients because I think that drugs should be used in urgent situations where there may be no other natural cure. However, if there is a more natural way of curing the patient then it should be used since it will be healthier for the patient in the long run.