Freud exported

One thing that I have been noticing lately is how little Germans talk about psychology in everyday conversation. It seems to me that the typical American loves to throw around pop psychology terms here and there, claiming that someone may be passive-aggressive, have an ego that is either too weak or overly inflated, be anal retentive, voyeuristic, or any number of other things all of which revolve around the inner working of the mind. Maybe I have just been hanging around in the intelligentsia crowd for too long, because these everyday analyses seem commonplace in American culture, but practically non-existent here.

Every culture centers on some things, because, in my opinion, the culture is naturally drawn to some themes and not others. For instance, amongst the many fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, some are popular here, and some are popular in the United States. If one were to compare the lists from each country, one would find only some corresponding stories. The same is true of Greek legends. The same is true for Biblical stories. So many people in America know that Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came a-tumbling down. I have yet to meet a German who is familiar with the story. And, sometimes, a German mentions a story from the Bible that I am not familiar with. Somewhere down the line particular stories have been cited by German society as being worthy of teaching their children. (I wish I could think of an example off the cuff, but that will have to come later.)

Maybe this accounts for why I am so funny in America, but so lame here. When I make a joke about someone seeming androgynous, no one gets it here, because that is not a concept that is familiar to them. And, when I make fun of someone because of their latent Oedipal desires it just flies over their heads.

People can dog on Americans all they want, but, from my living here in Germany, and from having lived in Belgium and France, I think that Americans are some of the most educated people in the world. Yes, we are sometimes backwards and provincial. Yes, we have our fair share of stupid people. But, over all, the American actually has a better education and overall, well-rounded knowledge than a European. Surprising, isn’t it? It is only surprising to us because of our inferiority complex, especially when confronted with the constant onslaught of the übereducated European elite that visits the US, Of course, their superiority complex helps to fuel this fire, of course.