Anecdotalism

[ladislav]

In SE Asian countries, things are often vague and chaotic and data is hard to come by. Uncertainty, vagueness, slippery-ness, fluidity, ambiguity, situationality, constant change, plus general lack of reliable stats and clear information are the realities we all have to deal with. Thus, people rely on networking with other expats to get at least some 'semblance' of reliable information.
And this is where we end up navigating a sea of different experiences, anecdotes and conclusions. One person was in place A and experienced situation A, another person was in place B and experienced situation B. One person kept having repeated problems, while another person just breezed thru and never had problems.
One person saw C, D, E but another person saw F, G, H. Other people saw nothing. One person had an unfortunate event happen to him, while another person had a fortunate event happen to him.
Person A came with a lot of money and kept it, person B also came with a lot of money but lost it, person C came with little money and still has little money, person D made a lot of money starting from scratch.
One dude was lucky and is traveling in educated circles meeting only good people, another dude lost it all and ended up living among the lowest classes experiencing a totally different reality.
Then, they all come to conclusion based on their own " field of reality" and points of observations which consists of their- and their friends' circumstances and happenings in their lives.
It's a giant soup/patchwork of different planes of realities and different vantage points. Except that, to find out an approximate truth, we no longer have so much official information, and have to read thru the " anecdotality".
In addition, there is the emotional, judgemental part to it all. The richer, the more fortunate and the ones who do not speak the language usually blame the poorer, the less fortunate and those who speak the language for being a--holes and stupid while blowing their own horn.
It's a minefield. Navigate it with caution. The best we can hope for is "the most probable truth".
19 Comments

[jerryrigged]

In SE Asian countries, things are often vague and chaotic and data is hard to come by. Uncertainty, vagueness, slippery-ness, fluidity, ambiguity, situationality, constant change, plus general lack of reliable stats and clear information are the realities we all have to deal with. Thus, people rely on networking with other expats to get at least some 'semblance' of reliable information.
And this is where we end up navigating a sea of different experiences, anecdotes and conclusions. One person was in place A and experienced situation A, another person was in place B and experienced situation B. One person kept having repeated problems, while another person just breezed thru and never had problems.
One person saw C, D, E but another person saw F, G, H. Other people saw nothing. One person had an unfortunate event happen to him, while another person had a fortunate event happen to him.
Person A came with a lot of money and kept it, person B also came with a lot of money but lost it, person C came with little money and still has little money, person D made a lot of money starting from scratch.
One dude was lucky and is traveling in educated circles meeting only good people, another dude lost it all and ended up living among the lowest classes experiencing a totally different reality.
Then, they all come to conclusion based on their own " field of reality" and points of observations which consists of their- and their friends' circumstances and happenings in their lives.
It's a giant soup/patchwork of different planes of realities and different vantage points. Except that, to find out an approximate truth, we no longer have so much official information, and have to read thru the " anecdotality".
In addition, there is the emotional, judgemental part to it all. The richer, the more fortunate and the ones who do not speak the language usually blame the poorer, the less fortunate and those who speak the language for being a--holes and stupid while blowing their own horn.
It's a minefield. Navigate it with caution. The best we can hope for is "the most probable truth".
19 Comments

I knew so many people who swore up and down that Pattaya and Jomtien were the best places in Thailand if not the WORLD and why they would go anywhere else is beyond them, this that and the other. Whenever I go to Pattaya, I end up wanting to leave earlier than I expected. Its like I can only handle Pattaya in small doses. Its fine, but I'd never want to live there. A Friday night into a brunch is about all I can handle, and then I'd like to be on my way to Bangkok, or on the boat to Koh Larn, at least. Ive had this same experience in Pattaya every time I've been there. There are so many different palates and tastes and preferences and personalities amongst the expat population. Its best just to take certain things as "fundamental truths", eg bar girls will try to take money away from you, and decide on what the status is for each location you attempt to visit, as you move your way through SEA. That is the best way to handle the situation, imo.