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I noticed that in cultures where violence is a more accepted form of behavior it is much less likely that someone will bump into me on a busy street. In places
by rv-de 8y ago
I noticed that in cultures where violence is a more accepted form of behavior it is much less likely that someone will bump into me on a busy street. In places like Split (Croatia) or Istanbul there is more natural inclination to grant some space when passing. The most bumps I get in Germany with Munich claiming the first place. I used to joke that the citizens of Munich simply aren't afraid enough of getting stabbed or beaten up and hence use any minor inconvenience as an opportunity to make a statement.
- dmichulke 8y agoI have travelled a few times to Munich and never had anyone bump into me (you're not talking of Oktoberfest, are you?). However, there is one such city for me, it's the only city I ever got bumped into twice in a single day by (seemingly sober) busy pedestrians: Prague
- contingencies 8y agoHaha, come to Asia. You people haven't seen a thing. Not only are there far more people in far less space but personal space norms are drastically reduced, and in some cultures queuing unheard of. Here in China doing anything amongst a group in public is like catching a schoolbus... elbows out, grannies included!
- sasaf5 8y agoAnd elevators: everyone cramps in as if it was the last bus.
- aluren 8y agoWhere in the world are you getting the notion that violence is more accepted in Croatia or Turkey than in Germany?
- travmatt 8y agoAccording to Wikipedia, the per capita homicide rate of turkey is approximately 3.5 times higher than that of germany. Croatia is actually less than that of Germany, although they did fight a very nasty war in the early 90’s and that may have colored some people’s perception of the country.
- aluren 8y agoWhat does per capita homicide have to do with a culture's being accepting of violence? I mean we're still talking about very low absolute levels. Anecdotally, having been to all three countries, I approximately encountered the same level of violence, i.e. nil. So really, I'm lost here. Are there any specific violence-proscribing laws in Germany that somehow don't apply in Turkey or Croatia?
- travmatt 8y agoIf a given place has a higher level of homicide, doesn’t it logically follow that more people there resort to violence as a means to solve problems? Your personal anecdote doesn’t really disprove the actual statistics. Most countries have laws against bribery and corruption, although I doubt you’d define a countries acceptance of bribery and corruption on the basis of whether there are laws prohibiting it.
- aluren 8y agoYou missed that one part: >I mean we're still talking about very low absolute levels. So no, I don't see how it logically follows, whatever that means, that people Turkey or Croatia would be more likely to resort to violence to solve problems: -Germany's crime rate is very low, and even 3.5x a very small amount is still very small. Croatia's is lower, but it apparently doesn't count because reasons. (For information, the US has never had any war on its own soil since 1865 and still sports higher homicide rates than all three of these countries). -Unless a country is literally at war or does lynchings or something, most violence typically happens within an underclass and rarely spreads to the middle to upper classes and becomes a cultural trait affecting the general population. -Cities are often more developed than the countryside, and the original poster was mentioning Istanbul. I get that there may be dodgy areas like in every city in the world, but does it logically follow that a whole culture shift in the entire city (or even country) stemmed from that specific number increase, and led to a peculiar general attitude when bumping people in the street? Here I'm lost.