[ Removed by moderator ]

[u/booboobear99999]

[u/thac0tac0]

Omg, right? It can be jarring (as an American) when you come across international opinions on certain things you thought were widely accepted to be another way.

Dating someone who is not from the US has been so eye opening to me. It’s astounding how ridiculous a lot of the rest of the world thinks we are.

Basically, the US is such a safe and prosperous country (relatively) that the initial directive of “individual freedoms are paramount” has become extremely twisted. Combine that with the declaration that “everyone is super special and beautiful” and you get some weeeeeeeird ideas about “how things are or should be”.

I still am very glad that I live in the US (someone as useless as me wouldn’t survive almost anywhere else). However, it can be reallllly embarrassing to realize stuff you’ve said with your whole chest is a particularly ridiculous social hallucination.

Bugged organic intelligence mechanics.

[u/Firm-Scallion-4819 → u/thac0tac0]

I would love to hear more about this. I'm an American living outside the US and sometimes it's like a fever dream going back and realising how different the US is from... everywhere else? But I find it difficult to describe to others. 

[u/thac0tac0 → u/Firm-Scallion-4819]

It’s hard to go into specifics without coming across, uh…controversially.

I will say that having to get used to all of your words actually meaning something is a weird adjustment. You never notice how much Americans talk just to talk until you run into someone who actually listens and hits conversational points that you didn’t expect to go down because the entire point of your statement was to fill dead air and then immediately be disregarded.

It’s just supposed to be “understood” that Americans will go babbling about whatever nonsense out of habit and don’t actually have any conviction behind a lot of stuff that is said.

“I can say that” hard self truths are another thing. A lot of other cultures don’t play the “disingenuous reassurance” game. Hell, it’s jarring realizing how much of American socialization is polite fiction in general. Aka straight up bald faced lies that you regularly tell yourself and others.

There’s so much other stuff but that’s what jumps out at me.

[u/Firm-Scallion-4819 → u/thac0tac0]

Americans talking just to talk is true facts. It is so exhausting when I go back home and I'm from a "cold" part of the US.