Seems Finland was rated as the most competitive country in the world… with the US in 2nd place. They are also tops in technological areas and education.
Considering the small size and remote location… what makes the Finns so competitive and high tech prone ? What makes them “tick” ?
Any insider or outsider views on the country and its peope ?Eino and Toivo were walking through the woods one day. Eino says “Yumpin Yimmeny Toivo, we are da mose competitive contry in da world… How come”?
Eino says…
Sorry… wrong forum.
Since you’re looking for personal observations rather than verifiable facts, I’ll move this thread to IMHO.
bibliopahge
moderator GQ
Two observations, purely from an outsider’s perspective:
The Kalevala (the “epic of the Finnish people”) is a pretty cool book. Also called the “Homer” of the Finns. It is a collection of a bunch of traditional songs performed at remote festivals/markets collected and written down in the mid-1800s. Lots of stuff about rascally wizards and mighty smiths (the nutty old poet is the hero). It apparently played a big part in developing a Finnish national consciousness (they were culturally indebted to Sweden) such that as the political situation evolved, the Finns coalesced as a “people” and finally got a country of their own. If you want to know what kind of myth subconsciously drives the Finns, this is probably the place to start.
In the opinion of an acquaintance of mine from Europe who works for a Finnish boss: “If you ever hear about some guy who has crossed the arctic alone on showshoes, you know that guy is a Finn.”
Q: How do you know you’re talking to a Finnish extrovert?
A: He stares at your shoes.
This is a very subjective observation, but I once participated in a Yahoo Group that discussed creativity and the arts. Without exception, whenever a person from Finland joined the group, they said something like; “…I am very artistic, but I am not good enough to call myself an artist.” That line was always a dead giveaway that the author was from Finland. I think it’s indicative of them being very self critical.
AHA! Now we know what the hell a “Sampo” is. Poor Lemminkainen…
“He’s a failure, la la la, what a loser, la la la, total failure, total failure, total failure, LA, LA, LA!”
(An MST3K reference, for those who are totally lost. The episode “The Day the Earth Froze,” about how Lemminkainen and Ilmarinen go to Loki’s land and forge the Sampo, their national treasure, for her in order to rescure Ilmarinen’s sister. Then Limminkainen and Ilmarinen’s sister get married and Loki stuffs the sun up her hoo-ha and wacky hijinks ensue.)
My grandparents emmigrated from Finland ~100 years ago. They chose to homestead in the balmy clime of the northern edge of the Great Plain in Saskatchewan. I think that might be part of it. They chose to live in an environment that was often harsh, and demanded that they be “up to the task.”
My father was a product of them, and he attempted to impress upon me that he strove to, what?, do things the hard way? Hmm…, that’s not quite right. Perhaps it was to not take the easy way.
One way or another, he and my Finnish-Canadian relatives were real sparse-on-the-frills get-it-done sorts.
Sisu.
I dunno, but any country that produces Finlandia Vodka, Renny Harlin, Tom of Finland, and Nokia probably can’t be reduced to a unifying cultural stereotype, ja?
OTOH, my father once knew a Finnish woman who was a child in the 1950’s. Whenever she and her brother would get overly rambunctious, their taciturn father would scold them thus:
“You kids! You’re making so much noise, Russian tanks could be coming through our backyard and we wouldn’t even hear them!”
So I would say that in the post-WWII era, it was anxiety over possible Soviet invasion and annexation that drove them to be competitive. That, and the inconsistent quality of the Russkies’ Stoli.
The World Air Guitar Championships are held in Finland each year! Maybe that’s it, as they’re pretty competitive.
My grandmother is from Finland, I have never met a more stoic, pragmatic person…but maybe resolve and willingness to put up with crappy conditions is not unique to the Finns, just migrants in general. Then again maybe it’s SISU like the paja poika from Duluth said
Went to see this filmyesterday. The Finns never cease to amaze me…
Sorry. Thought I had the coding bit down by now…
I might add that I’m probably going there next year to see for myself - as the Finnish people I’ve met have all been interesting and friendly. And their language is fascinating, to say the least!
Finnish people like it when Mikael Forssell scores a goal.
Finns have a firm reputation for being stoic and self-sufficient (that sisu thing). They are also (in general) keen on escaping to the Great Outdoors for natural beauty, solitude, contemplation and saunas. And there is a reputed tendency to drink to get drunk during the dark winter months.
Rumor has it that the Finns also love to tango; the television footage I’ve seen supports this but, by God, I don’t know how one tangos and still manages to look so taciturn at the same time. It must be a Finnish thing.
My choir’s doing a Saariaho piece next year; should be interesting.
I remember the Finns had a terrible reputation as reckless drivers… and two F1 pilots to prove it.