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The UK is part of Europe. It's technically, geographically, politically, historically, lingustially, tectonically and socially correct. In what ways is it not?
by SahAssar 2y ago
The UK is part of Europe. It's technically, geographically, politically, historically, lingustially, tectonically and socially correct. In what ways is it not?
- School-Cotton 2y agoAre Cuba or Haiti part of North America? A lot of British people feel like their civilization is meaningfully distinct from “Europe”, even though they’re part of it in a technical geographical sense.
- SahAssar 2y ago> Are Cuba or Haiti part of North America In general yes, but it depends on if you consider central america as its own continent and if you include them there and how you delineate north/south america. Groupings differ based on your education. I think the thing that makes the UK different is that there is no other option besides them being a separate thing/continent. Are you suggesting that the UK is it's own continent? Would that be with the faroese and the Greenlanders? The UK might feel different, but they are not separate. The french feel different from the bulgarians, but that does not mean they are on a separate continent, politically or geographically. EDIT: > A lot of British people feel like their civilization is meaningfully distinct This is, to borrow a word, "balderdash". Looking at the influence vikings, romans and normans have had that is a rubbish argument. Just like other countries in europe the british culture is built on the stones of other cultures, and just like many other countries they subsumed other cultures because of kings or other political dominance.
- School-Cotton 2y agoContinents are not objective reality, they are semi-arbitrary groupings vaguely correlated with geography, culture, etc. If British people don’t feel like they’re part of “the Continent”, there’s little objective reason to say they are.
- SahAssar 2y agoBut I'm guessing we can agree that any major landmass is generally belonging to a continent? Like we all agree that greenland, new zealand, japan, etc generally belong to a continent? So to what continent do those british people think they belong?
- School-Cotton 2y agoIf you asked someone directly “what continent is Britain part of”, they would surely say Europe, even if they would be unlikely to describe themselves as European. Language is funny that way.
- SahAssar 2y agoSo you agree (and think that most people would) that the UK is part of Europe?
- School-Cotton 2y agoI would agree that in some, but not all, of the contexts where the word “Europe” is used, it includes the UK.
- wsintra2022 2y agoBritish people don’t think anything, there are British individuals who may think but collectively the “British” do not have a thought.
- SahAssar 2y agoI specifically asked what "those british people" think in response to a post saying "If British people don’t feel like they’re part of “the Continent”". I was clearly asking what those specific british people think.
- wsintra2022 2y ago
- reshlo 2y ago> Would that be with the Faroese and the Greenlanders? Greenland is in North America.
- SahAssar 2y agoThe point was that any closeby landmass besides europe is either in europe or in north america, and I have a hard time seeing the argument for UK being in North America or America at all. France would have a better argument for it having territory in both north (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon and others) and south (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Guiana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Guiana and others) america.
- reshlo 2y agoYes, I agree. Especially about Saint Pierre and Miquelon.[0] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41758856#41785534 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41758856#41785534
- xanderlewis 2y agoI don’t know — I’m not claiming to. I’m simply claiming that it’s a commonly-held belief.