Wait a minute!
That seems to be backward. Doesn't "losing face" come from being caught doing the wrong thing or being dishonest, so that the incentive to fabricate data for something as important as scientific research should be very, very low?
That seems to be backward. Doesn't "losing face" come from being caught doing the wrong thing or being dishonest, so that the incentive to fabricate data for something as important as scientific research should be very, very low?
On July 5, an independent investigative commission established by the Japanese Diet issued its final report on the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Hailed as the definitive word on the subject thus far, the report points to what it calls the "fundamental causes" of the disaster, all of them cultural. The chairman's message in the report assails "the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture: our reflexive obedience; our reluctance to question authority; our devotion to 'sticking with the program'; our groupism; and our insularity." The nuclear disaster, in short, was "a disaster 'Made in Japan.'" News media around the world characterized the report's damning indictment of Japanese culture as unusually candid for the nation known to do anything to save face.[http://thebulletin.org/japan%E2%80%99s-culture-culprit-nucle...]