前一段时间《纽约时报》中文网上发了一篇文章《中式教育，还是西式教育》，一个美国朋友（曾在中国生活多年，普通话比我还标准）旋即发信来跟我抱怨。他对这种“中国还是美国”的对比不仅仅是反感，甚至感到敌视了。他说好多时候事情根本没有这么简单，怎么能一古脑儿说中国好，美国（或其他某个国家）差；或是美国好，中国差，这种讨论应该是小学水平，大而无当，且错误百出。“西式”这个词就更要不得了，美国、英国和芬兰，你到底是说谁呢？

不过我发现有时候我们的讨论一开始也只能针对小学水平。你把普通读者思维想得跟一个教授那样复杂，也是一厢情愿。教授这种“一方面...另一方面”的思维，反不被人待见。他们的话甚至没有人去理睬。我的回答是：

I do not think, however, that it is always a bad idea to start the conversation with this Chinese versus American discussion about education. This is one method to the madness. As you pointed out, these two systems are extremes.  I sometimes make such comparison to meet people where they are (in America or in China, knowing one type of education), and then examine where the two extremes can meet in the middle. Your experience of being an American in Hong Kong is very unique, or an outlier experience if I may say so, but I am more interested in figuring out what the masses think and if there is anything writers can do to reshape that kind of thinking. As long as we do not end in an either/or (Chinese or American) dialogue, I see nothing wrong with starting a conversation in a familiar comparison. I am an instructional designer by profession, and I believe in Gagne's instructional events theory which says that educators' (writers are educators too) first job in teaching is to gain attention.