Why are Filipinos not more precise?

I follow the logic: wife is not precise, therefore all countrymen are laid back, therefore country lags behind.

If only the wife said "After the discount the dress cost $35.69 including tax," we wouldn't be in this predicament. We would still be #3, but nooooo, she had to say "less than $40."

ADD

It just occurred to me that you were partly to blame: had you asked how many islands we have, she would have answered "7,107", not "more than 7,000." Then we'd really be on our way to #1. Bah!

Your wife is trying to evade the question of how much the dress really cost thus the vague answer she gave you. But you're right. We Filipinos love to be vague ourselves - with everything. It's a habit that comes naturally to us like when we say...ah, hmm...before an answer or in between a sentence. And we are unaware that we do that, too.

Well, it's no use crying over spilled milk over the tragedy that has befallen our economy. We have to accept the fact that once, we used to lord it over the other Asian countries in almost anything: sports, economy, singers, bands...whatever. What comes up must come down?

I believe the present economic situation of the country is the result of many years of graft and corruption in the government. It's a disease that cannot be cured. We can't put all the blame on the people for any failure because Filipinos, in some ways, have made remarkable changes in their attitudes and views towards life, career and future and have, in fact, distinguished themselves in many fields sometimes putting the country up front. Lets just say that it is time for other Asian nations to show themselves up and for the Philippines to take a bow albeit for now.

It is an estimate. If she bought the dress in pesos, do you want her to convert it to $ to the last cent? You do know that the peso to dollar exchange rate changes every minute, right? What difference would it make if the the dress costs $40 or $39.99 or even $37.99? Would you have preferred it if she said, 'oh honey, this dress costs $36.78 as of 11:00 this morning.' Wahahahaha! You are so funny. ^_^"

And how is this related to the country being backward? Sorry. You have to be more precise.

Estimating is not solely done by Filipinos. It is done by a lot of people. IT does not follow that since one of us does it, the rest do it as well. And it does not also follow that since your wife, who is Filipina, does that, that all others do the same thing. This is an example of the fallacy of hasty generalization. So please do not generalize.

But while I agree with PT in stating that the logic of your question is rather flawed, I have to admit that I have also sometimes done the same thing.

Personally, I also have the habit of giving estimates as opposed to giving precise answers, especially when it comes to matters concerning money. And my reason for this, is that I somehow think that speaking of exact amounts of money is rather boastful. Like when I say, for example, "about P500", instead of saying "P567". Giving the estimate is easier for my memory, plus I get saved from having to speak the actual amount. And I know that this is not exactly a logical reason, but it just so happens that THIS is the reason why *I* do just that.

But like I said, not because one of us does it, doesn't mean that we ALL do the same thing. Please, do not generalize. It tends to sound offensive when someone does that. ^_^

Sire, I could find no flaw in PT's logic.

I am so sorry but perhaps you have drawn a wrong conclusion. Another analogy would be if someone asked you the time, and you said "quarter past five". Is that an imprecise statement? Not many people carry digital watches, and even if they did, would they carry on a countdown to the precise second? Also, sir, with all due respect, I have researched from both Dictionary.Com and AskOxford.Com, but I could not find the meaning of "definate". But this imprecision had not affected the economy of your country, has it?

EDIT: And if I may add to the most astute observation of Mr.CDOGuide, it is this mentality of "Bahala Na" which makes the poor Pinoy an ideal candidate for Iraq, for those ingenious agencies to kidnap. If the Brits have Gurkhas, others have the Pinoys. I do believe a Cambodian King originally hired Pinoys to do bodyguard duties. If we can't do our killing in our land, let's go do it elsewhere. Perhaps, CDO can point the way.)

Your wife is not precise and stop generalizing about us Filipinos!

No wonder a lot foreigners have a hard time in the Philippines, they can't BS Filipinos.

where are you from?...every country has people who answers questions vaguely....it's not just people from the philippines that are not precise...find me a person or a place that has a precise answer and i will rest my case...just ask yourself this, "do i always give a precise answer to everything my wife asks me about?"....and don't even deny or lie about being precise because i'm pretty sure that more than once in your life, you do answer the same your wife does

wow, are you running for presidency or something? Anyway, you should ask your wife why she's not precise, you can only give this conclusion if you have asked EVERY SINGLE FILIPINOS out there how they would answer such a question. Maybe you should stop asking your wife how much she pays for her dresses- no wonder she won't give you exact numbers! Ugh! Men! =oP

Yes it is true the Philippines in the 1950's to the 60's was only second to Japan in terms of economy. However political squabbles basically stagnated the Philippines.

The word "Bahala Na" which means "Come what may come" basically sums up the Filipino culture. This is the very reason why Filipinos gamble not only their money but sometimes their lives (you cant stop people from going to Iraq) just to earn a living.

Opps, seems that you are carrying an accounting book and calculates all she spend... cents by cents.... goshhh

If you ask me how much my shoes (Alberta Firreti) and tell you USD153.35 after 70% discount, does it really matters to you? It's easy to just say more than USD 155 and besides I am not a calculator to program the exact amount everytime I purchase something. That's the essence of using the "rounding off to the nearest tens or something" in mathematics...

lols!