But what is often not mentioned is a very important difference: that round table discussions rarely happen in Britain. I first noticed this when I started attending friends’ dinners in London a few years ago, when I was visiting from New York: when I tried to start a conversation, I was told to stop because it was “too bad”.
There are many reasons for this, here is one;
In Britain, however, hustle is frowned upon and ambition is sometimes derided as pushy or showy. Therefore, if you are brilliantly intelligent, you are praised for hiding the truth or cracking jokes about it at your expense. Few Britons stand up in public and shout that they want to be intellectuals in society; or else without a self-deprecating laugh.
The whole FT column is interesting, note that Tett’s background is in anthropology.
Source link