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Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

blog.properrussian.com

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Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#31

Post by [deleted] »

geoka9 wrote: post #29
grecy wrote: post #7

Living in far Northern Canada I can relate to this. Up here, if someone wants to smile and say "Have a nice day", they will do so while making eye contact and you can tell they genuinely mean it. They are usually prompting you for further friendly chit-chat and happiness. Even when there are other customers waiting in line - those customers will be made to wait while two people have a friendly chat. When they don't w…

> I genuinely wonder if the climate has something to do with this. Extreme cold and very dark days tend to bring people together, and tends to make people more genuine and humble, in my experience. I don't think it's the climate, at least it's not the sole reason. After all, Russia is a huge country and Russians live all over it - from Siberia to the Russian Black Sea coast with its subtropical climate. I suspect it…

[deleted]

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#32

Post by vowelless »

blah32497 wrote: post #13

As a Russian-American this comes off as complete BS. I've seen this written before and it's always in the form of "It's not us that smile too little, it's you Americans that are fake and smile too much!". For one, Americans don't just smile to be polite. For the most part it's genuinely conveying positive emotions. Now I know this is going to be unpopular, but I think the real reason Russians don't smile is cultural.…

> As a Russian-American this comes off as complete BS. I've seen this written before and it's always in the form of "It's not us that smile too little, it's you Americans that are fake and smile too much!".

I agree and it always appalls me how these sweeping-generalizations make it to the front page of HN.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#33

Post by cm2012 »

aegiso wrote: post #11
nostromo wrote: post #9

There's really no need to be stingy with your smile. If you smile more often at work, even if there's nothing specific to be happy about, it really does lighten up the mood and make people cheerier. People will want to work with you more. Also, I hope I don't sound like a sociopath here, but smiles are a form of brain hacking. If they are genuine, or at least seem genuine, they disarm people and make them more recept…

Did you read the article? The whole thing is basically an argument for why your comment is culturally insensitive and myopic.

It is not at all a proven fact that smiles have purely a cultural/nurture effect. We can entertain the idea that smiling affects humans regardless of culture, and that it would be objectively better for human happiness to consciously create smiles.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#34

Post by Demiurge »

As a Russian-American, I completely agree. Smiling has different semantics in West and in Russia. On the other hand, I don't mind the 'fake' customer service. I don't want people to be sincerely unhappy to do something for me. I appreciate the effort of a waiter putting on a smile at the end of an 8 hour shift, 10 minute before the restaurant closes.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#35

Post by bowlofpetunias »

It's interesting how an article like this provokes multiple reactions that come down to "the American way is the right way".

Also, unlike the article suggests, I think Russians are closer to (fellow!) Europeans than Americans in this respect. The way the Russians described in this article perceive Americans is not that different from the way most Europeans do.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#36

Post by Gonzih »

javert wrote: post #24
blah32497 wrote: post #13

As a Russian-American this comes off as complete BS. I've seen this written before and it's always in the form of "It's not us that smile too little, it's you Americans that are fake and smile too much!". For one, Americans don't just smile to be polite. For the most part it's genuinely conveying positive emotions. Now I know this is going to be unpopular, but I think the real reason Russians don't smile is cultural.…

Socialism makes every other person a potential enemy and a potential victim. Resources are scarce. People come to hate one another. Capitalism makes every other person at worst a neutral non-threat and at best a potential trading partner. Resources are plentiful. People feel benevolent towards one another. This is not an apology for America; America is only semi-capitalist. You can see Americans getting meaner over t…

Do you realize that socialism was born because of struggling workers in capitalism based societies?

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#37

Post by Demiurge »

blah32497 wrote: post #13

As a Russian-American this comes off as complete BS. I've seen this written before and it's always in the form of "It's not us that smile too little, it's you Americans that are fake and smile too much!". For one, Americans don't just smile to be polite. For the most part it's genuinely conveying positive emotions. Now I know this is going to be unpopular, but I think the real reason Russians don't smile is cultural.…

You might have your opinion, but this article is a re-iteration of something that has been pretty much established by people who study verbal and non-verbal communication (professionally). You might say this has cultural origins in 'Russian misery', but the article outlines present day meanings of smiling and not smiling in Russia and in USA.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#38

Post by jlgreco »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #17
jlgreco wrote: post #4

Combine this with the Finnish attitude towards smalltalk, and I think you'd get the ideal sort of country for me.

So more like how people on the East Coast then?

Oh my no, people on the east coast put far to much effort into smalltalk and smiling. The South is infamously bad in that regard, more than any other group of people that I know of, but nearly anywhere on the east coast puts too much value in small talk or smiling for the sake of smiling for my tastes. Even NYC.

The east coast is where I grew up, and where I got sick of people always pretending to be happy and interested in other people. I prefer to keep it sincere.

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#39

Post by bowlofpetunias »

nostromo wrote: post #9

There's really no need to be stingy with your smile. If you smile more often at work, even if there's nothing specific to be happy about, it really does lighten up the mood and make people cheerier. People will want to work with you more. Also, I hope I don't sound like a sociopath here, but smiles are a form of brain hacking. If they are genuine, or at least seem genuine, they disarm people and make them more recept…

To be perfectly honest, and I'm not trying to be personally aggressive here, that kind of behavior makes me want to punch people in the face.

A smile is an involuntary response. Unless you are a really, really good actor with full control over ever muscle in your body, people will spot a fake smile ("if there's nothing specific to be happy about") from a mile away. It's not even a conscious thing, human body language is a way more complex symphony than just curling your lips a bit.

And in cultures in which artificial smiling is not a common thing that is seen as patronizing at best, and insulting at worst.

So unless you are in a country like the US, where people are used to such behavior, I would go easy on the "brain hacking".

Re: Why Russians Are Not Smiling (2011)

#40

Post by jlgreco »

grecy wrote: post #7

Living in far Northern Canada I can relate to this. Up here, if someone wants to smile and say "Have a nice day", they will do so while making eye contact and you can tell they genuinely mean it. They are usually prompting you for further friendly chit-chat and happiness. Even when there are other customers waiting in line - those customers will be made to wait while two people have a friendly chat. When they don't w…

If this difference is in fact real and actually represents a difference in emotion or happiness, then I don't think climate has much to do with it. Alaskans have always struck me as overly cheerful people and they get similar cold and darkness.
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