4 ms·

This is a risky hypothesis, but could it have something to do with access to guns? In a society when every stranger can potentially be armed, it might be prude

by jagrsw 5y ago

This is a risky hypothesis, but could it have something to do with access to guns? In a society when every stranger can potentially be armed, it might be prudent to somehow display the 'I intend no harm' sign upfront, and smile might be a good proxy for that? The 'the armed society is a polite society' thing? Living in Europe, where owning guns is not common (and carrying personally very very rare), I don't feel compelled to display or require upfront any bigger signs of 'friendliness' to/from strangers, other than 'Hello/Guten Abend/Adieu'. If the situation becomes unpleasant, I can always leave w/o physical consequences (excl. assault situations). In a gun-loving culture, I'd probably put more effort to lower risk of misunderstandings.

aidenn0 5y ago
I don't think that's the case at all, based on variations in the US. The upper-class parts of LA are known for superficial friendliness, while New York is not, but in neither region is known for its gun culture. Meanwhile parts of the Midwest that had a lot of Germanic immigrants are perceived as being "cold" compared to the southern states, and both tend to have high rates of gun ownership. When I first moved to Southern California, I found the smiles quite off-putting. Living here for over a decade, I'm sure I do the same now.
pjlegato 5y ago
Gun ownership is quite common in many parts of Europe. Finland in particular is nearly the same as the US in terms of percentage of households with firearms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percent_of_households_with_guns_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percent_of_households_with_gun...
- OJFord 5y ago
  But [0] they are licenced for specific usages, and carry is not allowed outside of that context, and 'personal protection' hasn't been one (barring extant holders) since 1998. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_regulation_in_Finland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_regulation_in_Finland
  - pjlegato 5y ago
    That article also says that unregistered / illegal firearms are common in Finland, many hidden since World War II. This is the case in many other parts of Europe, too.
- benhurmarcel 5y ago
  But in practice it’s still extremely rare to encounter them day-to-day. For example Switzerland is very high but almost all guns are given by the state during military service and are kept locked away in case of invasion. Bullets are illegal. The totals looks similar but in practice the situation with weapons is extremely different. You have basically no chance to encounter an armed person in the street.
frosted-flakes 5y ago
Canadians have a similar smile-culture as Americans, but not a gun culture. I mean, a lot of people have guns for hunting or target practice, but you're not allowed to walk around with a pistol like you can in the US.

by jagrsw 5y ago

aidenn0 5y ago

I don't think that's the case at all, based on variations in the US. The upper-class parts of LA are known for superficial friendliness, while New York is not, but in neither region is known for its gun culture. Meanwhile parts of the Midwest that had a lot of Germanic immigrants are perceived as being "cold" compared to the southern states, and both tend to have high rates of gun ownership. When I first moved to Southern California, I found the smiles quite off-putting. Living here for over a decade, I'm sure I do the same now.

pjlegato 5y ago

Gun ownership is quite common in many parts of Europe. Finland in particular is nearly the same as the US in terms of percentage of households with firearms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percent_of_households_with_guns_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percent_of_households_with_gun...

OJFord 5y ago
But [0] they are licenced for specific usages, and carry is not allowed outside of that context, and 'personal protection' hasn't been one (barring extant holders) since 1998. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_regulation_in_Finland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_regulation_in_Finland
- pjlegato 5y ago
  That article also says that unregistered / illegal firearms are common in Finland, many hidden since World War II. This is the case in many other parts of Europe, too.
benhurmarcel 5y ago
But in practice it’s still extremely rare to encounter them day-to-day. For example Switzerland is very high but almost all guns are given by the state during military service and are kept locked away in case of invasion. Bullets are illegal. The totals looks similar but in practice the situation with weapons is extremely different. You have basically no chance to encounter an armed person in the street.

frosted-flakes 5y ago

Canadians have a similar smile-culture as Americans, but not a gun culture. I mean, a lot of people have guns for hunting or target practice, but you're not allowed to walk around with a pistol like you can in the US.