This article and these comment threads are such a US centric discussion. I’ll never forget the little landmine Ghost in the Shell planted in me when it represe

This article and these comment threads are such a US centric discussion. I’ll never forget the little landmine Ghost in the Shell planted in me when it represented the Americans as having used their cybernetic tech to give themselves permanent, atrociously fake smiles. That landmine exploded years later when I learned the fake “half smile” is something Non-Americans pick up on and are very uncomfortable with. In general, most cultures outside of the US find us to be very indirect, obtuse, and overly obsessed with very specific word choices. The verbal and non-verbal mazes of our prevailing corporate culture is something of a beast for them to overcome. So it’s amusing to see a lot of virtue signaling about preferring direct language and having a thick skin in this thread alongside people earnestly showing off their “negotiating skills.” Be interesting if you could see who was inside or outside the US, because I suspect it’d fall along the lines I’ve laid out above.