On this website and others and in many "paper" publications, you will see certain cultures, countries and societies referred to as "Eastern".

Since the world is a sphere, terms like this are purely relative. For the man in Japan, the major "Eastern" country is the United States. For the woman in the United States, the major Eastern countries are situated in the western portion of the Asian continent, what we call "Western Europe". Despite references to the continent of Europe, a glance at a map will disclose that there is no break in the continuity of the landmass from the English Channel to Beijing. And, hence, no separate continent of Europe.

It is understandable and perfectly natural that man defines things relative to his location.

Looking at world maps prepared in different countries is very eye-opening. In each case the local country is the center of the map. Maps from the antipodal countries are the most striking as they turn upside down our national-centric view of the world. In some cases various types of projections have been used in constructing maps, which make some areas appear larger than they really are. An example is a standard European-produced map of Europe which makes it look larger than it is when compared to Africa.

Books like "The Rise of the West" make it quite clear that there was contact and mutual influence between civilizations of the Ancient World from the Mediterranean to China.

What does this all mean? In short that the human venture is a shared experience. That we have in the past learned from one another and will continue to do so in the future.