I am a non Norwegian living in Norway. I can confirm that it is almost all the time disappointing. Also it is a strange practice to have short lunch breaks. When I was in Germany 1 hour lunch break was common. But in Norway 30 minutes is more common. It is too short even with a matpakke. It’s too rushed when it is an organized lunch say for a workshop or a conference.
Sometimes (but very rarely) my colleagues from my team and me go have lunch at some fancier place and completely miss the 1-hour time limit (by a lot).
This is kinda tolerated because it happens very rarely, but I can assure that this is awesome for team building. Nothing gets people closer than "we took a 2.5h lunch break and we're all equally responsible for it".
Norway: $70,590
Italy: $37,970
I doubt the difference is much from longer Italian lunches, but the same cultural differences may well be responsible for both longer lunches and lower productivity.
If environmental factors do indeed contribute to IQ scores, doesn't it seem pretty plausible that lower GDP per capita, which results in changes to environmental factors such as education, might result in lower IQ scores, rather than the other way around?
It'd be interesting to read studies which investigate whether there's a causal link between IQ and GDP per capita, and if there is one, which one causes the other.
I have no doubt that certain cultural aspects of Southern Europe have a huge impact on their countries' GDP, long lunches and a more relaxed attitude towards labor (not to mention taxes and corruption!) among them. In Scandinavia, the Protestant work ethic is still deeply ingrained in the culture, and this shows.
And it necessarily leaves less time and space for non-work-related activities. So it meshes poorly with hedonism. But happiness can certainly come from fitting in with a role and excelling at something.
I’ve never been to Scandinavia. All this talk makes me want to visit.
Norway: 82.51
Italy: 82.54
I doubt the difference is much from longer Italian lunches, but the same cultural differences may well be responsible for both longer lunches and higher life expectancy.
Would colleagues be offended in any way if your dish was particularly aromatic once reheated?
Most people don't bring leftovers, though. They typically pack open sandwiches that they make themselves.
A lot of companies have kitchen areas that they keep stocked. People typically make sandwiches (open, again!) and salads. I've never seen anyone hear anything in a microwave.