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This trope of "as a member of the superior European culture, America is strange because..." is really tiring, and as an American that has spent years living in
by ceilingcorner 6y ago
This trope of "as a member of the superior European culture, America is strange because..." is really tiring, and as an American that has spent years living in various European countries, almost always flat-out wrong and inaccurate. I assure you, European countries have some cultural practices that appear just as strange or backwards to Americans.
Your post is a perfect example: you have chosen a grab-bag of behaviors and traits from a very diverse group of people (329,227,746), thrown them together, and said "Look how weird these people are!"
- modeless 6y ago> This trope of "as a member of the superior European culture, America is strange because..." is really tiring Is there a name for this trope yet? I see it constantly.
- DyslexicAtheist 6y agooh don't get me started on Europeans, as a European I can guarantee you that we are as backwards in many ways even more so. there are many progressive elements among US culture but it's not what this article reminds me of (even more skurille that it's posted on HN since it has no value in psychology or philosophy). your comment is whataboutism but I can understand why it may offend (although offense wasn't my intention) I too prefer to be critced by my own tribe rather than an outsider. which is only human. but then it's also false because an immigrant to Europe (or somebody who has never been there) might make better conclusions about my country than those who are in the thick of it.
- ceilingcorner 6y agoYour comment doesn't offend, it's simply ignorant and wrong.
- DyslexicAtheist 6y agohow can my personal experience with American culture be wrong? it's not like I'm citing something I read but things I have and still experience. I'll leave it at this since there is no point in further discussion if we don't share the same basis/foundation in how we perceive reality.
- redisman 6y agoYou’re making sweeping generalizations with surface level information.
- DyslexicAtheist 6y agoI'm making generalizations about how America propagandizes its image throughout the world and I provide personal anecdotes on how these stereo-types have become real to me. It isn't how all Americans think nor did I say so. But it's real enough as there is evidence even in classic American literature so that they are as real or unreal as you want them to be (you can only not see them by never reading anything old or new). If you ask somebody to read all the American classics they will stumble upon these themes over and over. As for grounding in reality I have met my share of Americans who were closer to this stereotype than others. The fact that everyone immediately understands what I'm referring to by mentioning these (American) social norms speaks for itself. There is nothing naughty about it in my thinking - it's a comment of the social norms from an outsider so feel free to ignore them or if they do not match your experience why get offended by it? But once people (like myself) have become aware of them it's hard to not see them. Saying it's a generalization is a cheap shot when this whole article is pseudo-scientific nonsense that generalizes the shallowness of relationships by insinuating "there are many taboo topics you should never ask your partner". How else can you discuss society or culture without generalization? All of systems-thinking is a generalization and abstraction, it's literally how we reason in the face of complexity.
- redisman 6y agoI can see how the parent comment might come to these conclusions but it’s obvious they haven’t actually lived in the US for very long if at all. Pretending to understand a culture from the outside looking in has been a European pastime for centuries I guess
- bachmeier 6y agoIt's also hard to understand how Europeans think things like this add to the conversation.