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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 pract

by 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.
- thefz 3y ago
  > 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. No, not really. Coming from an italian.
  - adev_ 3y ago
    > No, not really. Coming from an italian. I like the "not really" :) But to be fair, I should have replaced "are" by "can be".

by moltar 3y ago

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.

thefz 3y ago
> 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. No, not really. Coming from an italian.
- adev_ 3y ago
  > No, not really. Coming from an italian. I like the "not really" :) But to be fair, I should have replaced "are" by "can be".