3 ms·

> I remember asking my parents why it was okay to make fun of Americans, but not people from any other country. A bit like in europe where you can criticise ge

> I remember asking my parents why it was okay to make fun of Americans, but not people from any other country. A bit like in europe where you can criticise germany all you want. Since they know their worth and are secure enough they wont mind. Some may even jump in. Similarly east europeans dont hesitate to criticise their own countries. Criticise south europe and you’ll never hear the end of it. The US is secure enough for critical self reflection. Canada and brazil not so much.

iinnPP 3y ago
Canadians make light of themselves all the time. Americans are not really "known" for critical self reflection, the opposite maybe. Just look at the slew of jokes about traveling abroad and claiming to be Canadian. Now if you want to see Canadian "politeness" in action, read the comment section on CBC.
- laratied 3y ago
  [flagged]
- kcplate 3y ago
  > Now if you want to see Canadian "politeness" in action… In my experience Canadians are quite polite to other Canadians, but not necessarily to non-Canadians
  - iinnPP 3y ago
    People who are polite don't discriminate based on silly lines on a map or anything based on appearance or even invisible traits. The CBC comment section is more toxic than the birth child of a terrible subreddit and the worst 1000 games of League of Legends.
    - gumballindie 3y ago
      To be fair comment sections everywhere are toxic regardless of country or culture.
      - iinnPP 3y ago
        I find it to be the most toxic comment section I have come across. I also see the moderated comments, which just make it worse. From supposedly polite Canadians.
        gumballindie 3y ago
        Whatever you do dont read the dailymail (uk) comment section and dont attempt to translate the comment section of any non english speaking european tabloid.
        ojhughes 3y ago
        50% of the daily mail commenters seem to be Americans
    - kcplate 3y ago
      I think there is a bit of a noun and verb confusion here to my comment. An impolite person can occasionally act polite to others in certain circumstances, including due to silly lines on a map, or due to invisible traits. Perhaps the opposite of that is not true—a polite person is never impolite, which is what I think you are describing.
  - JieJie 3y ago
    How did you like Montreal?
moltar 3y ago
Haha, you are so on point! I was born in Eastern Europe and raised in Canada. Recently I moved to Southern Europe and had the audacity to criticize some practices. I was almost nuked from the orbit and all of the perceived faults were vehemently defended. That was quite a culture shock to me.
- gumballindie 3y ago
  Just the other day i had a lecture here on hn by a south european about how east european countries should leave the eu if they dont like the current state of affairs. Something something gratefulness bread and butter, etc. In some cultures constructive criticism is seen as a negative thing while in some it is done precisely because you want to improve that which you love. The issue is that cultures that dont appreciate it will use self criticism against you. Thats in my experience.
  - jemmyw 3y ago
    I don't know that it's a cultural thing than resentment. Southern EU countries were doing tremendously well out of the EU until the 2008 gfc and then their strategy was shown to be um less than wise. Eastern EU countries have not (yet) fallen into that debt trap and seem to be generally on the up. It'd be nice if Europeans didn't get quite so attached to their own country's performance in games they have little influence over.
- adev_ 3y ago
  > I was almost nuked from the orbit and all of the perceived faults were vehemently defended You might also just describe perception biased here too. If I take Italy as an example, you might get "nuked from orbit" (from an eastern European perspective) just because you said your pizza looks better than the one of your friend next table. And that has nothing with a "lack of self criticism". It is just how basic social interaction are there. Arguments/spicy conversation are the norm in some culture. Not the exception. The conclusion is: Behavior study is hard because your perception of "the norm" is always relative to your culture.
  - 3y ago

iinnPP 3y ago

Canadians make light of themselves all the time. Americans are not really "known" for critical self reflection, the opposite maybe. Just look at the slew of jokes about traveling abroad and claiming to be Canadian. Now if you want to see Canadian "politeness" in action, read the comment section on CBC.

laratied 3y ago
[flagged]
kcplate 3y ago
> Now if you want to see Canadian "politeness" in action… In my experience Canadians are quite polite to other Canadians, but not necessarily to non-Canadians
- iinnPP 3y ago
  People who are polite don't discriminate based on silly lines on a map or anything based on appearance or even invisible traits. The CBC comment section is more toxic than the birth child of a terrible subreddit and the worst 1000 games of League of Legends.
  - gumballindie 3y ago
    To be fair comment sections everywhere are toxic regardless of country or culture.
    - iinnPP 3y ago
      I find it to be the most toxic comment section I have come across. I also see the moderated comments, which just make it worse. From supposedly polite Canadians.
      - gumballindie 3y ago
        Whatever you do dont read the dailymail (uk) comment section and dont attempt to translate the comment section of any non english speaking european tabloid.
        ojhughes 3y ago
        50% of the daily mail commenters seem to be Americans
  - kcplate 3y ago
    I think there is a bit of a noun and verb confusion here to my comment. An impolite person can occasionally act polite to others in certain circumstances, including due to silly lines on a map, or due to invisible traits. Perhaps the opposite of that is not true—a polite person is never impolite, which is what I think you are describing.
- JieJie 3y ago
  How did you like Montreal?

moltar 3y ago

Haha, you are so on point! I was born in Eastern Europe and raised in Canada. Recently I moved to Southern Europe and had the audacity to criticize some practices. I was almost nuked from the orbit and all of the perceived faults were vehemently defended. That was quite a culture shock to me.

gumballindie 3y ago
Just the other day i had a lecture here on hn by a south european about how east european countries should leave the eu if they dont like the current state of affairs. Something something gratefulness bread and butter, etc. In some cultures constructive criticism is seen as a negative thing while in some it is done precisely because you want to improve that which you love. The issue is that cultures that dont appreciate it will use self criticism against you. Thats in my experience.
- jemmyw 3y ago
  I don't know that it's a cultural thing than resentment. Southern EU countries were doing tremendously well out of the EU until the 2008 gfc and then their strategy was shown to be um less than wise. Eastern EU countries have not (yet) fallen into that debt trap and seem to be generally on the up. It'd be nice if Europeans didn't get quite so attached to their own country's performance in games they have little influence over.
adev_ 3y ago
> I was almost nuked from the orbit and all of the perceived faults were vehemently defended You might also just describe perception biased here too. If I take Italy as an example, you might get "nuked from orbit" (from an eastern European perspective) just because you said your pizza looks better than the one of your friend next table. And that has nothing with a "lack of self criticism". It is just how basic social interaction are there. Arguments/spicy conversation are the norm in some culture. Not the exception. The conclusion is: Behavior study is hard because your perception of "the norm" is always relative to your culture.
- 3y ago