5 ms·

If film was invented in France, why didn't France become the film hub of the world, then, instead of Los Angeles? If packet switching is from the UK, why didn't

If film was invented in France, why didn't France become the film hub of the world, then, instead of Los Angeles? If packet switching is from the UK, why didn't the UK build a world wide network instead of DARPA? If HTML was invented by a Brit in Switzerland, why didn't the UK or Switzerland become a hub for the world wide web instead of silicon valley? You say that the rocket sent to the moon was built by a German, as if that's points against the United States. To many Americans that isn't a bad thing. It is a foundational American value to adopt culture, skill, and ambition from abroad.

atq2119 3y ago
> If film was invented in France, why didn't France become the film hub of the world, then, instead of Los Angeles? The US wasn't disrupted by WWII nearly as much as France. The US also has a larger domestic monolingual market, so there's more potential for network effects. By the way, this is true even today. The EU is a larger unified market than the US, but linguistic divisions are still a significant barrier.
tharkun__ 3y ago
This viewpoint is funny given the full on American individualism thing. "one superhero invented the Atomic bomb. And he was American!" When pointed out that it wasn't one American but many imported people from around the world then suddenly things shift to "well of course, that's because only the US allows lots of individuals from around the world to work together as a team to do great things". Which one is it?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- xeromal 3y ago
  It's not really incongruous because Americans don't really have an origin besides the original natives. What makes us great is our immigrants. We're all immigrants.
  - tharkun__ 3y ago
    What original natives? You mean the Asians that migrated down to what's now Canada and the US? In the end it's a definition of how far back you want to look to define "original natives". And the further back you go the more inexact are the "facts". Do we all come from this one place in Africa in the end? Are we 100% Homo sapiens Or How much Neanderthal is in us? Does it depend on which migration wave our ancestors were part of? Meaning by extension of your logic if I choose the right cutoff Europe is African actually so the Atomic bomb was invented by an African! Personally I think that the cutoff should be somewhere around second or third generation immigrants. Specifics can depend on how much integration with existing local culture happens or how much individual silo groups cling to their country of origin. And then there's of course the "eradication of previous inhabitants" that sometimes happened. The majority population of the US has roots in Europe, yes. But US culture" is definitely distinct enough now to stand on its own.
    - xeromal 3y ago
      lol
    - ToValueFunfetti 3y ago
      First and second generation immigrants make up ~25% of the American population (roughly even split). Drawing the line such that a quarter of Americans aren't American doesn't seem right to me.
      - tharkun__ 3y ago
        That's a fair enough way to think about this from some angle. Specifically I guess the citizenship one which clearly makes people Americans way earlier than my scenario. It's not as easy as that though on a more philosophical level and from various different angles. E.g. think yourself back to the days those Asian tribes presumably came to America. I read it was three waves. Was the first wave the only true "native Americans" then and the second wave was an immigrant already? That became "native" when and how then? (never mind that there was no such thing as citizenship of a country at that time)
- flappyeagle 3y ago
  The American point of view is that anyone who adopts America as their home is American. I don’t care what a piece of paper says. You move here and make your home here, you’re one of us.
  - Freedom2 3y ago
    Does every state share this view?
    - flappyeagle 3y ago
      Yes every state shares this view. They may not assume you’re American upon meeting you but if you tell someone you are, they will almost certainly accept it.
  - brmgb 3y ago
    The American point of view is that people are American when it allows Americans to keep to their narrow minded patriotism and aren’t when it doesn’t suit it.
    - flappyeagle 3y ago
      What’s an example of “aren’t when it doesn’t suit it?”

atq2119 3y ago

> If film was invented in France, why didn't France become the film hub of the world, then, instead of Los Angeles? The US wasn't disrupted by WWII nearly as much as France. The US also has a larger domestic monolingual market, so there's more potential for network effects. By the way, this is true even today. The EU is a larger unified market than the US, but linguistic divisions are still a significant barrier.

tharkun__ 3y ago

This viewpoint is funny given the full on American individualism thing. "one superhero invented the Atomic bomb. And he was American!" When pointed out that it wasn't one American but many imported people from around the world then suddenly things shift to "well of course, that's because only the US allows lots of individuals from around the world to work together as a team to do great things". Which one is it?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
xeromal 3y ago
It's not really incongruous because Americans don't really have an origin besides the original natives. What makes us great is our immigrants. We're all immigrants.
- tharkun__ 3y ago
  What original natives? You mean the Asians that migrated down to what's now Canada and the US? In the end it's a definition of how far back you want to look to define "original natives". And the further back you go the more inexact are the "facts". Do we all come from this one place in Africa in the end? Are we 100% Homo sapiens Or How much Neanderthal is in us? Does it depend on which migration wave our ancestors were part of? Meaning by extension of your logic if I choose the right cutoff Europe is African actually so the Atomic bomb was invented by an African! Personally I think that the cutoff should be somewhere around second or third generation immigrants. Specifics can depend on how much integration with existing local culture happens or how much individual silo groups cling to their country of origin. And then there's of course the "eradication of previous inhabitants" that sometimes happened. The majority population of the US has roots in Europe, yes. But US culture" is definitely distinct enough now to stand on its own.
  - xeromal 3y ago
    lol
  - ToValueFunfetti 3y ago
    First and second generation immigrants make up ~25% of the American population (roughly even split). Drawing the line such that a quarter of Americans aren't American doesn't seem right to me.
    - tharkun__ 3y ago
      That's a fair enough way to think about this from some angle. Specifically I guess the citizenship one which clearly makes people Americans way earlier than my scenario. It's not as easy as that though on a more philosophical level and from various different angles. E.g. think yourself back to the days those Asian tribes presumably came to America. I read it was three waves. Was the first wave the only true "native Americans" then and the second wave was an immigrant already? That became "native" when and how then? (never mind that there was no such thing as citizenship of a country at that time)
flappyeagle 3y ago
The American point of view is that anyone who adopts America as their home is American. I don’t care what a piece of paper says. You move here and make your home here, you’re one of us.
- Freedom2 3y ago
  Does every state share this view?
  - flappyeagle 3y ago
    Yes every state shares this view. They may not assume you’re American upon meeting you but if you tell someone you are, they will almost certainly accept it.
- brmgb 3y ago
  The American point of view is that people are American when it allows Americans to keep to their narrow minded patriotism and aren’t when it doesn’t suit it.
  - flappyeagle 3y ago
    What’s an example of “aren’t when it doesn’t suit it?”