<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Thanks Dave. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px">David Brin suggested that the unique aspect of Western culture was not just fascination by other cultures (that can be found elsewhere) but a deeply ingrained idea that other cultures might have figured out things we haven't, might have better solutions we ought to pick up on, or that we need to reinvent ourselves to avoid being bad. anders</span><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px"><br></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px">Speaking only for the USA, yes, we are fascinated by other cultures and often, very often, we assume that they are better than we are at certain things. Culture is one of them. All you have to do is put your ad or product name in French and it sells to us ignorant natives. We think that's exotic. And not only the French. Does any other culture think of us as exotic? We have covered the world with pop music and movies. Maybe we're just cool. Not a bad thing to lead the world in.</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px"><br></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px">I don't know that Anders is correct re science and technology, or form of government. I think we think that we have the best there. I also very much doubt that most of us feel inferior in the moral department (being bad). But we are, I think, the most open culture you can find. You world travelers can contradict that maybe. Maybe we feel inferior in haute couture (note language used by us here). Not so much fashion, but classical music and art and philosophy. The European tradition there is powerful.</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px"><br></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px">Bottom line: I don't think Brin is mostly correct and I'd like to read more about what he says, or how Anders thinks about it.</span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px"><br></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.8px">bill w</span></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jul 15, 2016 at 6:41 AM, Dave Sill <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sparge@gmail.com" target="_blank">sparge@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="">On Fri, Jul 15, 2016 at 3:36 AM, Anders Sandberg <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:anders@aleph.se" target="_blank">anders@aleph.se</a>></span> wrote:<br></span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<div>On 2016-07-14 17:17, William Flynn
Wallace wrote:<br>
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<div>Douhat
is ... <br></div></div>
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I don't think Doutat ...<br></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>OK, enough, guys, it's Douthat. :-)<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br><br></font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div>-Dave<br></div></font></span></div></div></div>
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