Oct

11

Americans Are Fake and the Dutch Are Rude!

Do all human beings have emotions, just like we all have noses or hands? Our noses have different shapes and sizes but when all is said and done they help us breathe, and let us sniff and smell the world around us. Our hands can be big or small, strong or weak, but regardless they help us touch, grasp, hold, and carry.

Does the same hold for emotions? Is it true that emotions can look different but, in the end, we all have the same emotions—that deep inside, everybody is like yourself? It would mean that once you take the time to get to know somebody, you will recognize and comprehend the feelings of people who have different backgrounds, speak different languages, come from other communities or cultures. But are other people angry, happy, and scared, just like you? And are your feelings just like theirs? I do not think so.

Andrew Aiken asks:

Why do Belgians have windshield wipers on the inside of the windshield?

Peter Saint-Andre doubts:

As someone who is half American and half Dutch, I am skeptical. The fact that there is a difference between Americans and Dutch in the style of public emotional expression doesn't mean that Americans experience, say, gratitude and Netherlanders don't. Also, if this person had come to New York (New Netherland!) instead of the midwest (midwesterners are fake, New Yorkers are rude!), she might have come to different conclusions.

And let's not forget that one of the world's famously untranslatable words is "gezellig", which in Dutch means the warm, cozy, comfortable feeling you experience when in the company of family or close friends.

Pamela Van Giessen agrees:

Over 50% of social science research, of which psychology comprises a significant proportion, fails on bad data, poor data management, and is unreproducible. Seems like this author is a poster child for that.


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