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Even if this is really true, does this actually translate to any measurable metric of success in the society? I'm not even comparing to the US, but to even the

Even if this is really true, does this actually translate to any measurable metric of success in the society? I'm not even comparing to the US, but to even the neighboring countries. It's not like I'm driving a Dutch car or sitting in a Dutch sofa..

onion2k 5y ago
Between Royal Dutch Shell (one of the world's biggest oil companies), LyondellBasell (one of the biggest petrochemical companies), and LDC (one of the biggest agriculture trading companies) you're almost certainly driving a car made with Dutch materials and sitting on a sofa made with Dutch-traded cotton fabric.
- tomonl 5y ago
  And ASML, biggest supplier of photolithography systems, which is probably involved with most computer chips you'll find.
meheleventyone 5y ago
This is such a weird question, surely you’re aware of the absolutely staggering amount of confounding factors that must exist at this scale which means the usefulness this trait might not be easily measured despite having utility? Particularly with such simplistic measures of “successful society”.
- keeganpoppen 5y ago
  the only things that exist are those that are measurable, didn't you know?
sn41 5y ago
Some aspects: 1. The Dutch were the pre-eminent traders in Asia after England. 2. Today, there are globally recognized Dutch brands like Shell, Philips, Unilever, and so on. 3. Dutch computer science has contributed to the advancement of technology in both theory and practice. Two representatives of those sides are Edsger W. Dijkstra and Guido Van Rossum. You may not be sitting on a Dutch sofa, but my money is on the that you do code in Python, which was developed at the Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam, now CWI. 4. Even in art, Netherlands has contributed a huge number of painters like Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh, etc For perspective : the population of Netherlands is 17 million, which is 1/20th that of the US. Despite such stereotypes as "going Dutch" etc., the Dutch have contributed enormously to the modern world.

onion2k 5y ago

Between Royal Dutch Shell (one of the world's biggest oil companies), LyondellBasell (one of the biggest petrochemical companies), and LDC (one of the biggest agriculture trading companies) you're almost certainly driving a car made with Dutch materials and sitting on a sofa made with Dutch-traded cotton fabric.

tomonl 5y ago
And ASML, biggest supplier of photolithography systems, which is probably involved with most computer chips you'll find.

meheleventyone 5y ago

This is such a weird question, surely you’re aware of the absolutely staggering amount of confounding factors that must exist at this scale which means the usefulness this trait might not be easily measured despite having utility? Particularly with such simplistic measures of “successful society”.

keeganpoppen 5y ago
the only things that exist are those that are measurable, didn't you know?

sn41 5y ago

Some aspects: 1. The Dutch were the pre-eminent traders in Asia after England. 2. Today, there are globally recognized Dutch brands like Shell, Philips, Unilever, and so on. 3. Dutch computer science has contributed to the advancement of technology in both theory and practice. Two representatives of those sides are Edsger W. Dijkstra and Guido Van Rossum. You may not be sitting on a Dutch sofa, but my money is on the that you do code in Python, which was developed at the Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam, now CWI. 4. Even in art, Netherlands has contributed a huge number of painters like Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh, etc For perspective : the population of Netherlands is 17 million, which is 1/20th that of the US. Despite such stereotypes as "going Dutch" etc., the Dutch have contributed enormously to the modern world.