>Did you ever notice you almost never read anything good about Iran?

You can read plenty of good about Iran if you read something other than geopolitical news. It's a very interesting country with an incredibly interesting history and language. The news is a pretty poor source for much of anything except for "events are happening" or "politicians have an agenda in [area]" -- I don't mean to belittle those. Both of those matter, but really no one should consider the news to provide thorough treatment for any large topic.

I'm part of a small forum that has a very world-wide audience.

It's always a joy to talk shop with a guy in England, a guy in Iran, and a guy in Poland in the same thread.

"The asymmetry is the tell"...is the (AI) tell.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirrors_of_the_Unseen

> Mirrors of the Unseen: Journeys in Iran (2006) is a travel book written by British travel writer Jason Elliot.

And a fascinating history of mathematics as well.

There have been fairly recent descriptions of the kinds of Iranian architecture that provide passive cooling in hot weather.

I have had the privilege and pleasure to work with some great engineers and scientists from Iran. Same with Turkey, and of course India, and so many other places in the world. People are individuals, no matter where they are from.

I do recognize that the type of person who I might encounter in the workplace is an educated, accomplished, English-speaking person who has likely gone through cultural adjustments to operate in an American workplace. So there’s a filter there.

But when you get to know people, especially when they talk about their family and childhood, the idea that a nation is full of bad people full of hate is just laughable.

I believe there is a qualitative difference between the governing systems in the west and a place where there are seven official allowed haircuts for men, aside from other things.