it turns out humans are not the same
everywhere who you are is at least
partially influenced by where you are
your environment literally has an impact
on you and if you don't believe me
studies show this and this is a dynamic
that's influencing all of us including
me as I've moved from one continent to
another the tug of war between the US
and Europe is just so intriguing to me
it just feels like this endless battle
between the new and the old world in the
west there's no right and wrong
obviously when it comes to a discussion
like this of cultural comparison there's
just trade-offs just it turns out that
you can't have it all I think the human
race really benefits as a species from
our differences plus it's really fun to
articulate the things that I'm seeing
take place in the world and so that's
the inspiration behind this piece
comparing the life that I've lived for
19 years in the US to the one that I've
lived for five years here in Europe and
how my view of things continues to
evolve now National stereotypes are
nothing new right one of the easiest
ones to point to is the idea that
there's more introversion in Asia for
example generally speaking massive
generalization and More extroversion in
other places like Brazil there are
exceptions to all generalizations right
but there's also a grain of Truth you
know the jokes that we make about these
sorts of things wouldn't be funny if
they were completely inaccurate if I
were to say oh the US is a quiet country
that is very respectful to all other
nations and doesn't make a lot of noise
I lose all credibility right you just
don't believe me because there's not
really a lot of Truth to that now while
I've already made a few pieces exploring
cultural comparisons between different
parts of the world different countries
and different regions I want to dig a
little bit deeper this time Beyond
superficial comparisons like oh
Europeans use air conditioning a lot
less than Americans yes produce is a lot
cheaper and a lot higher quality in
Europe than in the United States because
the government's subsidize that sort of
thing because people care about it a lot
more and yes technology is a lot more
affordable in the United States
partially because of Taxation on Imports
but also because as a society there's
more of an orientation towards
Innovation and one of the ways that
keeping up with the Joneses manifest
itself in the U.S is having the latest
shiny thing but I want to dig deeper
into the character of these two
continents and the trends that I'm
noticing in people that live in these
two continents oh my God there's no
Lanes there are no Lanes fair warning
these are just my opinions I am just
sharing my Ops reservations that I see
in the world and within myself so take
it or leave it and if you disagree with
something that I say please feel free to
share it in the comments this is
supposed to be fun I find this sort of
thing fun
for every point I'm going to make here
I'm going to really try despite my
biases yes I chose to live in Europe
explore the positives and negatives here
because I think there are positives and
negatives on both sides we
Americans are known for their patriotism
literally thinking to themselves we are
the best and that's definitely not
everyone but enough people do think that
that it's a real thing this really
cracks me up because you know that's got
to be one of the fastest ways that I can
think of to take someone off like who
likes the guy who shows up at the party
and won't stop talking about how they're
the best as I'm sure you can tell this
really annoyed me quite a bit having
grown up in the U.S but with immigrant
parents but a lot of Americans really
believe this and what doesn't help
matters is the reality that a lot of
people can point to the fact that the US
is a world superpower but look there are
a lot of really proud Europeans too and
maybe secretly they think they're the
best okay but it is a little bit harder
to make the argument that you're the top
dog right now if you're Greek or Italian
when in reality your moment to shine
came centuries ago for the record I
don't think there's a best country I
don't think in those terms I think
different countries are good at
different things and I don't feel like
quantitative measurements like GDP say
anything about the quality of a country
now the reason I bring all this up is
because of a weird feeling that I get
when I return to the US it's this
feeling that I'm in the center of the
universe and obviously I know that's not
the case but the relationship between
the US and Europe doesn't work the same
way both ways here in Europe there's a
steady stream of news coming from the
U.S but when I'm over there it feels
like there isn't much talk about what's
going on in the rest of the world unless
something really big happens like a war
most mainstream media barely covers
what's going on internationally and
unless you're a worldly American and
there definitely are some of those out
there
you don't have a very much of an idea of
what's going on out there in many ways
the U.S does feel geographically
isolated and maybe that's because the
distance between Los Angeles and Las
Vegas is bigger than the distance
between Paris and London it does feel
like Europe is closer to a lot of the
rest of the world and because the
distance is smaller you can't pretend
that there aren't neighbors all around
you France cannot pretend Germany isn't
like right there I personally believe
this is a major factor in how we ended
up with The Stereotype that Americans
are terrible at geography World
Geography maybe also The Stereotype that
a lot of Americans are uncultured and
speaking of that actually culture is a
confusing word
there's something extremely interesting
to me about the whole conversation about
culture
[Music]
according to a lot of Europeans the U.S
is a place that lacks culture but that
doesn't make a lot of sense because the
U.S is actually one of if not the
biggest exporters of culture in the
whole world that's one of those things
that really shocked me when I moved
abroad everyone is exposed to the
aforementioned American Media and
therefore American politics and current
events American music is everywhere it's
ubiquitous honestly you could say I'm an
export of the United States and I'm not
sure I could argue with that the US is
like always the loudest kid in the room
and even just cities like New York are
an explosion of Art and it's one city in
a giant country so what are we saying
here really what are Europeans referring
to I don't think these big mainstream
exports are what Europeans are referring
to I think they're talking about what
you do on a day-to-day basis and how
much that can change from region to
region I'm talking about the customs and
traditions that have been passed down
for Generations the different Regional
dishes that come from centuries ago I'm
talking about the superstitions or the
different card games or the celebrations
that take place that commemorate
something that happened before modern
day France or Austria or Italy even
existed bizarre linguistic Works beyond
the fact that there's a different
language every direction you look
architecture the changes every few
hundred kilometers or miles am I
suggesting that the US does not have
customs and traditions no it does I
think about Thanksgiving and Halloween
and hot dogs and baseball the Super Bowl
there are a lot of things it's a big
country but one thing all of these
things have in common is that they
stretch across the entire expanse of the
country the U.S for better for worse is
associated with uniformity and scale
maybe that's just a facet of being such
a young Country For Better or For Worse
Europeans see the KFCs and the Starbucks
that are dotted across all of their
major cities and they see that as the
mark of the U.S and how it operates now
a lot of Americans know this and some
even criticize this right but it's still
happening I just personally have a
sinking feeling when I see the same
exact strip mall in any state that I
might go and it does feel like the only
way I can see the same thing in Hungary
and Spain is if I go to a major chain a
lot of which are American again maybe
this is because of size you know a
four-hour train ride can take you to any
one of like seven countries in Europe
and you're lucky if a four-hour flight
will take you outside of the U.S and I
think a lot of Europeans take pride in
this cultural richness the density of
different things things going on you
know being able to go to a different
place so easily and not understand the
word
one major difference for me between the
Europe and U.S is the language element
and I know I care about this more than
most people but I do think it has an
impact on your experience of each place
it's one of the main reasons why I moved
to Europe yes you have all kinds of
language diversity in places like Miami
and New York which is really cool but
overall English would do the job in the
US that's really not the case in Europe
yes English is the most international
language but still to this day not being
able to speak French when you're in
France means you are not having the full
French experience that's just how it is
and honestly I love living in a world
where there are many different languages
and many different ways to say things
and that we don't all necessarily
understand each other for me it's very
stimulating seeing or hearing the
different sounds and different ways that
people can communicate with each other
it adds a lot of color to the world yes
I speak Spanish but if I go to Barcelona
or spend time in Catalunya I you know
don't understand Catalan I speak Italian
but Southern Italians are difficult for
me to to understand partially because
the accent partially because of the
dialects it's just awesome richness that
I appreciate so much and kind of
counterintuitively it is precisely
because there is that barrier there that
it's difficult to learn a language
that's difficult to decode how people
are communicating that when you do
unlock that door it's like that much
more incredible that is what makes
languages so amazing to me the world
expanding tools I fell in love with
France and with Europe when I did my
Exchange in France because I was forced
to learn the language I just had to it's
like learning how to think in a new way
there's something so exciting about that
to me without that I would have never
immersed myself in France I would have
never created the life that I have now
speaking the language is often the
difference between having a superficial
tourist experience and delving deeper
into the culture I like to think of it
as overcoming the moat around a castle
so that you can actually storm the
castle itself who doesn't want to see
what's inside that castle you know what
I mean now lingoda is the sponsor of
this video and they offer a really
powerful tool that can help you storm
the castle if you will they offer live
online classes with professionals to
help you learn foreign languages and to
make it interesting they offer a variety
of challenges and language Sprints if
you actually complete the language
Sprint you can get some or all of your
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you just need that extra oomph to get
things rolling on top of it this has
been designed to promote consistency
which is huge to building the skill over
the long term if you're interested in
checking it out I'll leave a link in the
description and you can use my code to
get 20 euros or 25 off the registration
for your Sprint thank you lingoda for
sponsoring this video speed of life one
of the things that really struck me the
last time I went back to the US is the
speed of things and the fact that there
are less guard rails less people and
things that are going to slow you down
or get in your way and because of that
many people go very fast in the US for
example it's perfectly so socially
acceptable to Wolf down a sandwich in
three minutes and get right back to work
I'm not saying that's what always
happens I'm just saying that it's okay
people are not going to judge you it's
like an acceptable thing to do and
people will walk down the street eating
or they'll eat in their car and in
Europe you're never going to see those
sorts of things or if you do it's it's
like a extremely rare I don't know I
can't remember ever seeing it personally
these things are not okay it's our
looked down upon in exactly the same way
that smoking is looked down upon in the
U.S which goes to show you human beings
are willing to draw different lines in
the sand Europeans will tell you it's
not healthy right to eat that fast it's
rushed but it goes beyond that it feels
almost morally wrong I think that's a
good spot to pause and introduce A New
Concept I have this running theory that
there are two forces at play in shaping
culture the first is peer pressure
there's always a certain kind of
pressure that exists enforced by the
people around you on how things should
be how you should operate and the other
idea is normalization it's it's seeing a
certain kind of behavior that's very
widespread around you to the point where
you get desensitized to it and you find
it normal so let's talk about some
examples of this I want to talk about
work here for a second which is very
related to the speed of things in my
mind the US is a super competitive
Society there's a lot of peer pressure
to work harder and longer and if you
don't somebody will be there to replace
you no guard rails no off switch so it
leads to a more imbalanced way of living
I find this leads to a dynamic where
there's very little vacation time and
not just that people don't take that
vacation time you're lucky to get even a
couple of weeks but it's been normalized
to not even necessarily take that time
that becomes a sort of like
self-perpetuating cycle it does feel
like there's a fear of stopping so
there's the peer pressure and the
normalization of work that's taking
place in the U.S and the same is at work
in Europe but just in a very different
way in Europe I feel sort of peer
pressure to not work at certain times
like on Sunday because it's seen as
insane and and unhealthy
and because Europeans treasure their
vacation time and really stick to it it
has a normalizing effect I don't look at
time off in the same way I used to I'm
going to realize it's good to unplug to
recharge you know to not have everything
revolve around work so there's pros and
cons to both sides here because I think
the US is a really incredible place for
the ambitious if you want to advance
your career and that feeling of ambition
all around you can be infectious I felt
it as like a fresh wave of energy the
only thing is it doesn't feel conducive
to a healthy Rhythm over the long term
and the thing about grocery shopping you
know I was seeing a lot of people order
on instacart or ubereats or whatever and
it's not like those things don't exist
in Europe but there's like an emphasis
on efficiency in the U.S here in Europe
a lot of people will shop for groceries
on a very regular basis almost daily or
every other day for fresh produce and
they'll buy in season there's nothing
really efficient about that but it is
healthier and tastier now I wanted to
talk a little bit more about acceptable
behavior because it's related to this
point I made about peer pressure and
normalization there are clearly
different ideas about work but also just
what is acceptable behavior in general I
find that there's a lot more than
anything goes kind of attitude in the
U.S than in Europe growing up each year
there would be a pajama day which was
this really fun day where you go to
school in your pajamas I did this when I
was like 11 12 years old and I'm not
sure what happened maybe this has always
been the case and I didn't realize it
but it really struck me that I will see
adults full-grown adults walking around
in pajamas in the US I saw it when I was
there just a few weeks ago I have never
seen that in Europe and in fact it's
funny the Opposites taking place here in
in Paris where women in my life in
particular will come and visit and they
feel they cannot go out without dressing
well because Paris is such a capital of
fashion and looking good I guess I do
draw a link I don't know how related
they are but in my mind they're
connected between this casualness and
the American dream you're allowed to
dream about things that feel ridiculous
or impossible maybe that contributes to
the startup culture that exists in the
US the entrepreneurial spirit and of
course I should say there's Nuance there
there are differences between the coasts
of the United States and the middle of
the country there are differences across
the different countries in Europe on
this particular issue and all issues but
still I feel a different vibe when I'm
here in Europe and I have found that
this has had a positive effect in my
life this is one thing I'm really
grateful for from my time in the U.S
it's this mindset of like going for it
taking risks and figuring out a lot of
the rest later on look I'm aware that
there's a lot of psychoanalyzing going
on here and maybe the way that I see the
world says a lot more about me than the
world I'm open to that possibility but
what I love about making these cultural
comparisons is the fact that it's always
a reminder that there's more than one
way to live life I think a lot of life
is shaped by our values and the things
that we choose to stand by and a lot of
it is based off of what resonates what
feels right if you have the privilege to
travel or to move to another place it
can be a world expanding experience but
even if you can't do that being aware of
the biases inherent in living in a
particular place because there are
always biases can lead to a richer more
well-rounded experience of life I think
life is full of trade-offs but I do
believe in the power of picking and
choosing what works for you you deciding
what your trade-offs are to the extent
that you can I really try my hardest to
embody the best of all the places that
I've ever lived in it's just fun I guess
to see how different groups of humans
operate I think we can better appreciate
the world with contrast anyway I hope
this gave you some food for thought and
thanks for watching
all right for those of you that have
stuck around this long I just want to
mention a special project that I've been
working on for a very long time that's
called frame by frame it's a
post-production master class where my
lead editor my brother and I all share
everything that we know about
post-production creating videos and
animations this is something I'm super
passionate about it's a skill that I
built my entire career on the way that
I'm able to reach all of you and we're
doing in a really special way by having
a bunch of Highly curated core material
alongside live sessions so that I can
interact directly with all of you as
well as provide feedback and answer
questions if you're interested I'll
leave a link in the description below so
you can keep an eye out for when it's
available next alright I'll see you guys
soon
thank you
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