Comments on: Contrived kindness and contrived contempt

By: GÞB

GÞB — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 13:25:51 +0000

[to beat a dead horse till it winces] Thank you for your charitable words, Valur and James!

By: James P. Wall

James P. Wall — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 04:21:55 +0000

That hair is fantastic.

By: Valur

Valur — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 15:56:28 +0000

BRILL mynd !

kv. gamall mokari

By: GÞB

GÞB — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 23:38:51 +0000

Hehe ... tók ekki eftir þeirri tengingu ... nei, ég er þarna bara nýbaðaður að leika mér með minn vanalega sturtuhaus. Svona segir hann mér að klipping sé tímabær.

By: Dóra Margrét frænka

Dóra Margrét frænka — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 17:25:46 +0000

Bíddu…. ertu þarna að gera tilraunir með “hina einu sönnu Gulla Briem greiðslu”?

By: GÞB

GÞB — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 14:15:45 +0000

What a bunch of complete nonsense. You clearly have no clue what you’re talking about. You dolt!

Just thought I’d try out the opposite extreme of comment attitude. :)

But I do vigorously disagree with your idea of “what this is all about” … the hackneyed stereotype of the superficial American, and the implied superiority we non-US people supposedly enjoy in being less ingratiating. Of course you were only joking, but I’ll spout my rant just the same: I see plenty of contrived kindness here in Iceland, and plenty of frank, honest interaction in the US. Blanket generalizations of an entire nation’s character may be valuable in economics and market research and such mass-behavior fields, but to me they are worthless and foul-smelling, being not only disrespectful of the individuals of that nation and conducive to prejudices against them, but also a waste of my time and attention; I find specific observation of the character of an individual far more interesting than any linkage of that character to some supposed common national mindset. I have been guilty of careless, ill-founded, mildly amusing generalizations about nations in the past; now they just run shivers down my spine.

Except for Swedes, of course. Swedes really do universally suck.

:-)

(Even though I’m obviously kidding, my Swedish friends will still kill me for this. That’s Swedes for you; no mercy!)

By: Gummi

Gummi — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 06:16:57 +0000

Gulli, thank you for a very interesting article, I appreciate the time you must have spent researching for this posting, and the articulate contrasts you draw between a US person and an Icelandic (or simply non-US for that matter) person… which is really what this is all about :-)

By: GÞB

GÞB — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 12:41:49 +0000

Uh, my blog software does that automagically … but I salute your attention to detail! I also thank you graciously for your readiness to compliment me; it is very kind of you and indicative of a noble mindset.

(Okay, enough already!)

By: Gonzo

Gonzo — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 11:59:05 +0000

It’s highly commendable how meticulous you are in not only fixing the typo but also replacing each occurrence of a straight quote mark with a right curly quote mark. My heartfelt admiration is evident!

By: GÞB

GÞB — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 01:37:05 +0000

Hjalti and Hælhaldur: thank you both for your humor and generosity, and I am impressed by your evident intellect!

By: Gunnar Hælhaldur

Gunnar Hælhaldur — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 01:23:22 +0000

Didn't I lend you Plato's Republic a couple of weeks ago? You'll find Glaucon's views resonate well with yours when it comes to morality and selfishness. In two sentences I managed to appear generous, intellectual and superior to you by virtue of having lent you this classic and knowing something about its contents. It sure feels good. I was extra nice and left a typo for you to correct me, so that you can feel superior. I'm such a great guy!

By: Hjalti

Hjalti — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 01:20:45 +0000

Hi Gulli – I appreciate your insight :)