作为智人（Homo sapiens），你不仅是这种物种的成员，，而且还存在于该物种的历史中的特定时间以及地球上某个特定空间。 这个时间和地点是根据具体情况，理解，信仰和习俗来定义的，所有这些都会限制您的经验并影响您的思维模式。 如果你在殖民时代曾在美国生活过，那么你可能不会反对禁止女性担任陪审团，签订法律合同，拥有财产权或投票权的做法。 如果你曾经生活在十九世纪，你就不会反对年幼的孩子被剥夺了接受教育的权利，并被父母撵出去工作，每天十六个小时，你也不会考虑青春期的特殊需要。 （青春期的概念直到1904年才被发明。）
Not only are you a member of a particular species, Homo sapiens, but you also exist at a particular time in the history of that species and in a particular place on the planet. That time and place are defined by specific circumstances, understandings ,beliefs, and customs, all of which limit your experience and influence your thought patterns. If you had lived in America in colonial times, you likely would have had no objection to the practice of barring women from serving on a jury, entering into a legal contract, owning property, or voting. If you had lived in the nineteenth century, you would have had no objection to young children being denied an education and being hired out by their parents to work sixteen hours a day, nor would you have given any thought to the special needs of adolescence.(The concept of adolescence was not invented until 1904.)
如果你是在中东长大的，与你在美国相比，人们交谈时会站的更近。 如果你在印度长大，你父母为你选择配偶可能会是非常舒服的解决方式（而不是自由恋爱）。 如果您的母语是西班牙语并且您的英语知识有限，您可能会被一些英语口语弄晕。 詹姆斯亨斯林提供了两个有趣的例子：雪佛兰·诺瓦斯（Novas）最初在墨西哥销售非常糟糕，因为西班牙语"no va"意味着“没用”; 而“Perdue chicken”（珀杜鸡肉，珀杜是公司名）让人有些疑惑（或者更糟），是因为该公司的口号 “硬汉才能做出嫩鸡”，在西班牙语意味着“性欲旺盛的男人才能做出深情的鸡”。
If you had been raised in the Middle East, you would stand much closer to people you converse with than you do in America. If you had been raised in India, you might be perfectly comfortable having your parents choose your spouse for you. If your native language were Spanish and your knowledge of English modest, you probably would be confused by some English colloquialisms. James Henslin offers two amusing examples of such confusion: Chevrolet Novas initially sold very poorly in Mexico because no va in Spanish means "it doesn't work"; and Perdue chickens were regarded with a certain suspicion(or worse) because the company's slogan—“It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken"—became in Spanish "It takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate."
在欧洲，亚洲或南美洲长大的人有着截然不同的时间观念。正如丹尼尔·戈尔曼所解释的那样，“在美国晚五分钟算作迟到，但在美国商业会议上这行为是允许的。但阿拉伯国家的迟到三十分钟是正常的。在英格兰，被邀请参加晚宴的人，迟到5到15分钟是应该的;意大利人可能迟到两个小时，埃塞俄比亚人才会来，爪哇人完全不会过去，接受邀请只不过不然主人丢脸。“不同的种族起源也意味着喜欢不同的食物。有的喜欢吃纽约牛排和法国的炸薯条，有的喜欢吃“生猴大脑”或“用晒干的骆驼血制作成的骆驼奶酪馅饼”。社会学家Ian Robertson简洁地总结了全球范围内的饮食差异：“美国人吃牡蛎而不吃蜗牛。犹太人吃鱼但不吃猪肉。印度教教徒吃猪肉但不吃牛肉。俄罗斯人吃牛肉但不吃蛇。中国人吃蛇但是不吃人，新几内亚的Jale发现人肉好吃。“[注意：Ian对印度教教徒的提法是错误的。]
People who grow up in Europe, Asia, or South America have very different ideas of punctuality. As Daniel Goleman explains, "Five minutes is late but permissible for a business appointment in the U.S., but thirty minutes is normal in Arab countries. In England five to fifteen minutes is the 'correct' lateness for one invited to dinner; an Italian might come two hours late, an Ethiopian still later, a Javanese not at all, having accepted only to prevent his host's losing face." A different ethnic origin would also mean different tastes in food. Instead of craving a New York Strip steak and french fries, you might crave "raw monkey brains" or "camel's milk cheese patties cured in dry camel's blood." Sociologist Ian Robertson summed up the range of global dietary differences succinctly:"Americans eat oysters but not snails. The Jews eat fish but not pork. The Hindus eat pork but not beef. The Russians eat beef but not snakes. The Chinese eat snakes but not people. The Jale of New Guinea find people delicious."[Note: The reference to Hindus is mistaken.]
总而言之，生活在不同的年龄或文化中会让你不一样。即使你反对上文所说时空的影响，它们仍然象征着你的生活背景 - 换句话说，它们仍会影响你的反应。
To sum up, living in a different age or culture would make you a different person. Even if you rebelled against the values of your time and place, they still would represent the context of your life—in other words, they still would influence your responses.
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