Hacker News Reader

Comment by tomschlick | Hacker News Reader

Insulting someone with words and punching them in the face are two drastically different things.

And be very very wary of people and groups that try to erase the difference.

Because as an American you put the border at physical violence but think verbal violence doesn't matter. You see that as freedom. I see it as a lack of culture. Far more than an ocean separates these two continents.

Note that it is entirely play pretend anyway. I know for a fact that I can actually say and do far more here than the American society would tolerate in the USA.

Because the line of physical violence is pretty clear cut. The line at which someone gets offended is not and can vary drastically depending on the person, religion, current events, etc. Laws need clear definitions.

Insulting someone has an actual definition. It is not about being offended.

> Because as an American you put the border at physical violence but think verbal violence doesn't matter. You see that as freedom. I see it as a lack of culture. Far more than an ocean separates these two continents.

This, for instance, is clearly an insult; please report to the nearest detention center for your reeducation immediately. /s

But seriously, no; insults are subjective enough to be a terrible legal basis.

Is calling someone fat when they are indeed fat an insult? It obviously depends on context, intent, and delivery. Any definition is going to be nebulous.

Whatever definition you provide, there will be an infinite number of insults that don't match it, or an infinite number of compliments that do.

It’s not much of a ‘culture’ if politeness has to be enforced by the government.

For what it’s worth, having lived in both places Americans are less likely to insult you than the British, but more likely to take it seriously.

Jesus Christ..European cultural "superiority" was used to justify colonization of people around the world by literally every European country.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com