the pact in south Asia for crossing traffic filled streets. the pedestrian sets a course and speed and never deviates while the traffic flows around her, like a school of fish. it's a form of ballet or a courtly dance where all know the rules.
I'm not sure that it is even possible to extract particular features, beliefs or behaviours from one culture and embed them into another. As in nature's ecosystems, societies also develop as whole systems of interdependent parts, and taking an alien species away from its context and sticking it into a different ecosystem is rarely a good idea. It sounds like trying to create the "best novel" by taking the one best paragraph out of each of a hundred novels and pasting them together into a new book. Will this really bring about a better novel?
I'm myself a half-German, half-Greek, now living with my Chinese family in Hong Kong. I have the impression that the best features of each of these cultures are inextricably connected with their worst. The fierce individuality of Greeks, for example, has given them the strength to resist occupation and dictatorships and to fight for their freedom. But it also can, in less educated and younger men, lead to the macho behaviour often associated with the Mediterranean male. The Germans' Protestant work ethic brings about Mercedes cars and an ordered society, but also can make the experience of living in Germany stifling, dominated by abstract rules and unpleasant. I don't believe that you can have a culture that's somehow a collection of only the good bits.
I agree it requires thought, but is not necessarily impossible.
I mostly have experience of Canada, the USA, India, and the UK, so examples drawn from those.
Certain elements are directly contradictory and so cannot be mixed and matched - if I compare work cultures in the UK and Canada, the very elements that make work more 'fun' in the UK vs Canada (more office banter, drinking with colleagues, a slightly more freewheeling approach to rules) also lead directly to the downsides (less clear work/life differentiation, more nepotism, higher chance of casually racist/sexist comments).
Other bits can be adjusted without any significant downside whatsoever - sharing food Indian-style, say (even when I lived in India we didn't order food quite like that, we just ordered a few central plates and divvied it up amongst ourselves - I suspect Mr. Mastroianni's in-laws may be on the wealthier side).
A third category can be slightly uncomfortable at first but worth it for the positive outcomes. The UK (where I currently live) has this strange, unspoken rule that you aren't allowed to enjoy your front garden. Given that my front garden is south-facing and looking out onto a lovely park, and I have ignored this and often sit out front with my dog. It's been lovely! Both from a sitting-in-the-sun perspective, but also getting to know my neighbours - it's a habit I imported from Canada and have no regrets about.
I agree that every culture has its good bits and bad bits, and you can't just snap them apart and build them back together like Legos. They're more like big balls of multicolored Play-Doh: you can't pull out just the red clay without getting some blue, too. But some parts are easier than others. Food, for instance, spreads because some enterprising immigrants open a restaurant in a new place.
Arbituram's example is a good one––even if the whole neighborhood doesn't start sitting on their front porches, at least one person is enjoying it!
Kerala is beautiful and calm. A big reason is that the state almost entirely skipped industrialization - both the manufacturing and tech. Instead, it has a huge population of expats who work in the Middle East, and their remittances keep the economy going. And Tourism (that’s a biggie). Point being, Kerala took a very different path compared to many Indian states, especially its neighbors. It’s not really replicable, but interesting nevertheless.
My main issue with the toilet hose is that the water temp and pressure can vary A LOT, which can result in an unpleasant/unsuccessful experience. Me and my Toto Washlet are on Team Bidet. Otherwise, agreed.
As an Irishman who spent his early twenties living, working, dossing and drinking in Germany, the characteristics of life in that great country are so unbelievably, different from what you claim, as to be laughable. Unless you are German, in which case laughing'd be impossible, eh ?
Reading about other cultures is great. It is so great that I wished there was an actual Google Doc where people could tell freely about their own culture and how it relates to other cultures. Or a Substack, or a Subreddit, or something. Maybe there already is, but I don't know about it.
Additions:
the pact in south Asia for crossing traffic filled streets. the pedestrian sets a course and speed and never deviates while the traffic flows around her, like a school of fish. it's a form of ballet or a courtly dance where all know the rules.
I'm not sure that it is even possible to extract particular features, beliefs or behaviours from one culture and embed them into another. As in nature's ecosystems, societies also develop as whole systems of interdependent parts, and taking an alien species away from its context and sticking it into a different ecosystem is rarely a good idea. It sounds like trying to create the "best novel" by taking the one best paragraph out of each of a hundred novels and pasting them together into a new book. Will this really bring about a better novel?
I'm myself a half-German, half-Greek, now living with my Chinese family in Hong Kong. I have the impression that the best features of each of these cultures are inextricably connected with their worst. The fierce individuality of Greeks, for example, has given them the strength to resist occupation and dictatorships and to fight for their freedom. But it also can, in less educated and younger men, lead to the macho behaviour often associated with the Mediterranean male. The Germans' Protestant work ethic brings about Mercedes cars and an ordered society, but also can make the experience of living in Germany stifling, dominated by abstract rules and unpleasant. I don't believe that you can have a culture that's somehow a collection of only the good bits.
I agree it requires thought, but is not necessarily impossible.
I mostly have experience of Canada, the USA, India, and the UK, so examples drawn from those.
Certain elements are directly contradictory and so cannot be mixed and matched - if I compare work cultures in the UK and Canada, the very elements that make work more 'fun' in the UK vs Canada (more office banter, drinking with colleagues, a slightly more freewheeling approach to rules) also lead directly to the downsides (less clear work/life differentiation, more nepotism, higher chance of casually racist/sexist comments).
Other bits can be adjusted without any significant downside whatsoever - sharing food Indian-style, say (even when I lived in India we didn't order food quite like that, we just ordered a few central plates and divvied it up amongst ourselves - I suspect Mr. Mastroianni's in-laws may be on the wealthier side).
A third category can be slightly uncomfortable at first but worth it for the positive outcomes. The UK (where I currently live) has this strange, unspoken rule that you aren't allowed to enjoy your front garden. Given that my front garden is south-facing and looking out onto a lovely park, and I have ignored this and often sit out front with my dog. It's been lovely! Both from a sitting-in-the-sun perspective, but also getting to know my neighbours - it's a habit I imported from Canada and have no regrets about.
I agree that every culture has its good bits and bad bits, and you can't just snap them apart and build them back together like Legos. They're more like big balls of multicolored Play-Doh: you can't pull out just the red clay without getting some blue, too. But some parts are easier than others. Food, for instance, spreads because some enterprising immigrants open a restaurant in a new place.
Arbituram's example is a good one––even if the whole neighborhood doesn't start sitting on their front porches, at least one person is enjoying it!
Ha glad you liked my home state :) I hope you got to try some proper Keralite food too.
Don't worry I came back with pockets stuffed full of fish curry!
Best. Food. (Except maybe Goan, sorry)
Kerala is beautiful and calm. A big reason is that the state almost entirely skipped industrialization - both the manufacturing and tech. Instead, it has a huge population of expats who work in the Middle East, and their remittances keep the economy going. And Tourism (that’s a biggie). Point being, Kerala took a very different path compared to many Indian states, especially its neighbors. It’s not really replicable, but interesting nevertheless.
It is so baffling how culture live within us, food, clothes, behaviour sometimes also the way of living and thinking itself.
My main issue with the toilet hose is that the water temp and pressure can vary A LOT, which can result in an unpleasant/unsuccessful experience. Me and my Toto Washlet are on Team Bidet. Otherwise, agreed.
that Toto Washlet sounds like it really blesses the rains down in Africa if ya know what I mean
I love the four by seven! I hope the wait staffs are better treated/paid than in the Capital States of America.
I assure you they are not!
+1 to bidets, healthy masculine touch, and Indian Chinese food :)
As an Irishman who spent his early twenties living, working, dossing and drinking in Germany, the characteristics of life in that great country are so unbelievably, different from what you claim, as to be laughable. Unless you are German, in which case laughing'd be impossible, eh ?
Reading about other cultures is great. It is so great that I wished there was an actual Google Doc where people could tell freely about their own culture and how it relates to other cultures. Or a Substack, or a Subreddit, or something. Maybe there already is, but I don't know about it.