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cultures do certainly exist. Consider for example the difference between high-context and low-context cultures. As an anecdote about russian culture, a russian

cultures do certainly exist. Consider for example the difference between high-context and low-context cultures. As an anecdote about russian culture, a russian coworker once told me how amused a shopkeeper was back in russia when he asked them if they could please give him something. Where in russia it is typically not done (and its not at all rude to simply instruct a shopkeeper to give you something without please or thank yous, and certainly not asking someone if they can do something but just telling them to do it). The shopkeeper thought it was endlessly funny to just say no, as though it was an earnest request. Living in the UK had changed how my coworker spoke even in their native language. Sure some may regard these as aspects of language still, but imo the fact that it affected how my coworker spoke even in their native language perhaps shows its more a cultural thing. Now I WOULD be very wary of making cultural arguments as relates to crime. Imo its only really appropriate for analysing individual interaction.

wolverine876 3y ago
> cultures do certainly exist That depends on how we define culture - some ways it's defined in people's minds don't really exist, some do. Also, to the extent something called 'culture' exists, we also can say that alien lifeforms exist, but that doesn't mean we know anything about them. I'd ask, 'how are you defining it', but that seems unfair on HN: Answers are far too long and complex to explore here - I'm certainly not trying! :) > russian culture That seems like two words for an incredibly large, diverse, complex collection of - of what? how is that part of the sentence accurately written? > an anecdote I think this story supports my point about our reasoning about culture. We infer about all of Russia and its 'culture' (whatever that is), based on a second-hand anecdote. Of course, social customs depend somewhat on time, place, participants, and many other factors (language, participants' ages, recent events (don't be too cheerful after a tragedy), etc. etc.) and we have an instinct that helps us grasp what will fit in any moment. But that is a very complex, undefined thing.
- boeingUH60 3y ago
  I agree with the video. Culture plays a huge role in countries’ trajectories even if people like to deny it because of fears of racism or being accused as one. It doesn’t take much to observe that Russian culture is largely accepting of bullying, dog-eat-dog mentality, and cheating to get ahead…Putin and the leadership is a reflection of that. I live in a country known for cybercrime of a different kind (Nigeria) and will never deny that culture plays a part. Our local culture is largely accepting of corruption and cheating to get ahead, which is one of the reasons many engage in crime. Don’t get me wrong…I’ve worked with and continue to work with some wonderful Russians. But, it doesn’t change the fact that the culture needs reforms for the good of the country. Of course, I’m not in support of profiling. I’ll never like to be profiled as a cyber criminal because I’m from Nigeria, but I’ll never deny that our culture has a big issue with rationalizing corruption and theft and needs reform to make us better-behaved.
  - femiagbabiaka 3y ago
    Would you say that Buhari is representative of Nigerians in general? Is there even a national/universal Nigerian culture (a country created in whole cloth under colonialist ideology), or are you just talking about Lagos? What about Trump and Biden in America? Point is, leaders don't often represent their people in toto, unless you count id as being the sum total of culture.
    - boeingUH60 3y ago
      Buhari represents a large part of the Nigerians in the Northern states. Trump represents a large part of Americans and so does Biden. Democratic leaders are a representation of a significant percentage of their people. If you see an awful elected leader, then there's an awful large population that voted them in.
      - femiagbabiaka 3y ago
        Have you looked at voting participation in Nigeria and America? These claims don't stand up to the data. Presidents represent certain small, usually-but-not-always radicalized, portions of a country, especially in FPTP/runoff systems.
- pixl97 3y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-trust_and_low-trust_societiesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-trust_and_low-trust_socie... worth checking out along this topic.

wolverine876 3y ago

> cultures do certainly exist That depends on how we define culture - some ways it's defined in people's minds don't really exist, some do. Also, to the extent something called 'culture' exists, we also can say that alien lifeforms exist, but that doesn't mean we know anything about them. I'd ask, 'how are you defining it', but that seems unfair on HN: Answers are far too long and complex to explore here - I'm certainly not trying! :) > russian culture That seems like two words for an incredibly large, diverse, complex collection of - of what? how is that part of the sentence accurately written? > an anecdote I think this story supports my point about our reasoning about culture. We infer about all of Russia and its 'culture' (whatever that is), based on a second-hand anecdote. Of course, social customs depend somewhat on time, place, participants, and many other factors (language, participants' ages, recent events (don't be too cheerful after a tragedy), etc. etc.) and we have an instinct that helps us grasp what will fit in any moment. But that is a very complex, undefined thing.

boeingUH60 3y ago
I agree with the video. Culture plays a huge role in countries’ trajectories even if people like to deny it because of fears of racism or being accused as one. It doesn’t take much to observe that Russian culture is largely accepting of bullying, dog-eat-dog mentality, and cheating to get ahead…Putin and the leadership is a reflection of that. I live in a country known for cybercrime of a different kind (Nigeria) and will never deny that culture plays a part. Our local culture is largely accepting of corruption and cheating to get ahead, which is one of the reasons many engage in crime. Don’t get me wrong…I’ve worked with and continue to work with some wonderful Russians. But, it doesn’t change the fact that the culture needs reforms for the good of the country. Of course, I’m not in support of profiling. I’ll never like to be profiled as a cyber criminal because I’m from Nigeria, but I’ll never deny that our culture has a big issue with rationalizing corruption and theft and needs reform to make us better-behaved.
- femiagbabiaka 3y ago
  Would you say that Buhari is representative of Nigerians in general? Is there even a national/universal Nigerian culture (a country created in whole cloth under colonialist ideology), or are you just talking about Lagos? What about Trump and Biden in America? Point is, leaders don't often represent their people in toto, unless you count id as being the sum total of culture.
  - boeingUH60 3y ago
    Buhari represents a large part of the Nigerians in the Northern states. Trump represents a large part of Americans and so does Biden. Democratic leaders are a representation of a significant percentage of their people. If you see an awful elected leader, then there's an awful large population that voted them in.
    - femiagbabiaka 3y ago
      Have you looked at voting participation in Nigeria and America? These claims don't stand up to the data. Presidents represent certain small, usually-but-not-always radicalized, portions of a country, especially in FPTP/runoff systems.
pixl97 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-trust_and_low-trust_societiesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-trust_and_low-trust_socie... worth checking out along this topic.