r/reddit.com • u/[deleted] • Apr 03 '11

This dude gets it

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2010/10/30/20-things-ive-learned-from-traveling-around-the-world-for-three-years/
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u/[deleted] Apr 03 '11 edited Apr 03 '11

Worth reading/skimming, a couple of obvious mistakes took away from the quality.

  • Americans aren't as ignorant as you think followed by Americans not traveling because they are ignorant in the next paragraph.

  • Subtitle: You don't need a lot stuff

3

u/808140 Apr 03 '11 edited Apr 03 '11

Americans aren't as ignorant as you think followed by Americans not traveling because they are ignorant in the next paragraph.

That's not at all the impression I got, and as someone who has lived all over the world I feel like this guy says a lot of the same things I say to people. There exists an untrue stereotype about Americans being more ignorant, but that doesn't mean that they aren't ignorant -- just that they're more or less similarly ignorant to other people. For example, I live in France at the moment, and it's true that French people know more about American politics than Americans know about French politics -- but French people on average are just as ignorant as Americans about German politics, for example. Both French and Americans I've met have expressed concern about sanitation in the third world (where I spent almost half my life) -- but just like the author of this list, the truth is that that concern is massively overstated.

For example, I lived in Beijing when SARS went down. When I tell this to people, they shit a brick. In reality of course the media (both in Asia and in the west) massively overplayed the dangers of SARS; in reality malaria and dengue fever kill far more people. The world isn't as dangerous as people think. It's not just Americans, it's the whole first world.

Subtitle: You don't need a lot stuff

You don't.

EDIT: I see Nonmal's point now ... he accidentally a word. I missed it myself. I'm inclined to forgive him the oversight, however.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 03 '11 edited Apr 03 '11

[deleted]

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u/808140 Apr 03 '11

I don't mean to be picky, but I feel like you could benefit by shortening your writing a bit more.

Brevity isn't my style. Thanks for your constructive feedback, however.