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Comment by puzzlingcaptcha | Hacker News Reader

A real commitment to “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”

https://www.tofugu.com/japan/conformity-in-japan/

Yes. Probably he could have been left alone if he didn't get that much publicity though. There are tons of communities "standing out" in Japan, but they just go by themselves into exile, staying under the radar to survive.

I found out recently that the Chinese have an equivalent phrase: “The fattest pig gets eaten first”.

That sounds more like its about showing off and such, than it is about generally not following cultural norms

See also, "the tallest poppy"

People cite Law of Jante to be anti exceptionalism when in reality it is meant and generally used as a means of reminding high and low alike that we are in this together.

We are different, but do not think that your view point on our difference makes you inherently better than me.

We are both human, we both share this place called Earth, could we be productive and not turn life into a weirdly specific genitalia measurement contest.. por favor?

You are allowed and encouraged to be exceptional, just like everybody else. You should just recognize how you got there and how other people got where they are. In essence, Jante, is a teaching tool regarding inequality.

Denmark is a lovely place, in part, because of a general adherence to following those guidelines. Therefore as a Dane it pains me to see it cited as a bad thing and as justification for actions and behaviors Law of Jante which are in direct opposition to how it is de facto taught and applied in Danish society.

No offense but how unified is that interpretation and teaching? Just liks how foe instance many say Christianity is about love, nonjudgement and charity but many practice or teach radically different forms which are all about hatred, judgement and prosperity gospels. Likewise some may really be more "tyrannies of mediocrity" where doing anything positive draws harsh responses for making them self reflect and feeling envy in response.

You are allowed and encouraged to be exceptiona

Laws 1-7 and 10 state otherwise!

But this is by no means exclusively a Danish thing, see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_mentality

I’m English, and here it is enforced by the class system.

> Laws 1-7 and 10 state otherwise!

I disagree. OP talks about what you're allowed to be, Jante talks about what you're allowed to think.

How can you be or do anything without thinking about it?

I've always though that Law of Jante was good, while also equating it to "the tallest blade of grass gets cut first."

How does one propose this 'law' without violating many of its own rules (#10 especially)? It smacks of snobbery.

It is also used to keep the peasant in their place be good behave and pay your rent to the bourgeois land lord a common result after the many European revolutions.

There was a very Funny BBC comedy "Brass" satirising the gritty northern melodramas one episode had the Forman being seen as trying to be upwardly mobile as he had brought some bicycle clips - not that he would dare to think (or be able to afford) of buying a bicycle.

According to the book by Axel Sandemose which defines the "Law of Jante", it is a custom which the proletariat uses to keep each other down.

The loudest duck gets shot.

To be fair, the American equivalent (Christopher Thomas Knight) was immediately sent to prison.

...for burglaries.

...of candy.

(In any case, isn't public nakedness also a crime? It is in many countries.)

It's technically not illegal in the UK, but they get you one way or the other it seems.

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

"The Naked Rambler" has spent years in prison over the matter.

It maybe a crime in highly religious counties but it's actually perfectly legal in many countries (as well as some states in the US).

In the UK you can get arrested for "indecent exposure", which I believe basically means someone has to be offered by your nakedness. Which means nude beaches, organised naked cycle events and such like are all perfectly legal.

I wouldn't class myself as a naturist but I am often surprised at just how offended some people get by nakedness. I mean sure, nudity of a sexual nature in public places I can understand, but that's completely different to a woman sunbathing topless or a guy hiking. People should just live and let live. But that's just my opinion.

> I believe basically means someone has to be offended by your nakedness. Which means nude beaches, organised naked cycle events and such like are all perfectly legal.

Fortunately we're all incredibly good at being offended by anything and everything - so I'd argue you've got sod all chance of avoiding it at this point unless in an area explicitly defined as "nudist"

For more on the UK approach, see the long saga of Stephen Gough, the Naked Rambler.

And sometimes naked plane rider, which is rather asking for trouble. Rambling yes. Naked on a plane, please do not.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Gough?wprov=sfla1

> isn’t public nakedness also a crime?

It can be, but in the US it somewhat depends on intent. And, of course, nudity is usually a misdemeanor or less, in contrast to Chris Knight’s ~1000 felony burglaries — burglary is a felony in Massachusetts.

Trying to be provocative or shocking is mainly what’s illegal, but breastfeeding, for example, isn’t illegal. The wikipedia page on indecent exposure laws has this hilarious sentence: “The Supreme Court of Massachusetts ruled that the law could refer to sudden, unexpected exposure of the buttocks” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indecent_exposure_in_the_Uni...

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