alt Hacker NewsI asked a Vietnamese woman if she wanted to play board games at a cafe with me.
She got very upset and stormed off. 2 hours later, she messaged me: "sorry, I was rude, but I will not go to the casino with you."
Common language, culture, and context makes a more peaceful world.
Replies
yongjik • today at 5:56 AM
> Common language, culture, and context makes a more peaceful world.
As a South Korean - well, considering that my country once went through an existential war against our mortal enemies, the other Koreans ...
Common language and culture doesn't stop hate. Sometimes it just means that your insult will land on your target perfectly as intended.
jagenabler2 • today at 5:32 AM
It also makes a boring one. Friction is where interesting experiences, stories, and cultures are born.
If this happened, you didn't put in the effort to learn to speak Vietnamese well enough. Or she didn't speak your language well enough.
"Common language, culture, and context makes a more peaceful world" is such a ridiculous and abhorrent thing to say I can't even keep writing here.
Edit: Then again, I just saw this post you wrote: https://www.kcoleman.me/2026/01/28/when-everything-becomes-n...
Your last line there - "Instead, in 2026 I want to restore contrast." So I can't tell if you're joking now because those words and this comment are at stark odds.