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Originally Posted by s|k
I've noticed this now in other places besides GD/Netgamers. I can only explain it from my point of view, and it occurs to me like this:
British, especially educated ones, are very pushy, abrupt, uncivil, arrogant and direct in their manner of speaking, and often sarcastic and cynical. Please understand that I'm just explaining it from my American point of view, and that I don't think people try to be uncivil intentionally. Further from my perspective it seems as if people in the UK are not making the effort to provide common courtesy. I imagine that, maybe, from a British perspective common courtesy seems like a waste of time, unecessary hand holding when you just want to make a point.
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It's just a difference in etiquette, and the gulf is probably not as broad as you imagine. What is important to remember is that a forum tends towards intensifying our perception of eachother.
There is however, as you said, a greater cynicism among Britons than Americans (particularly in relation to politics and religion). Is this unwarranted, or disadvantageous? Yes, the spirit and idea amid which Britain was born was destroyed long ago (and has been many times since) and somehow we've ended up with little more than an atmosphere of in-jokes and sneering. Is this unhealthy? On a national scale, disregarding the world as a whole, I'd support the notion that we may be better off if a lot of people were a lot more cynical about what happens around us.