[koliber]

I've seen an interesting behavior in India. If I ask someone on the street for directions, they will always give me an answer, even if they don't know. If they don't know, they'll make something up.

This was strange. I asked a lot of Indian people about it and they said that it has to do with "saving face". Saying "I don't know" is a disgraceful thing. So if someone does not know the answer, they make something up instead.

Have you seen this?

This behavior appears in software projects as well. It's difficult to work like this.

[wolvoleo]

No, but I have noticed that somehow it's hard for them to say "no". This is impolite apparently. So you ask: "Can you do this before friday" and they say yes and then don't do it at all. Which of course is a lot less polite and causes a lot of friction.

However this was a thing 10-15 years ago. Lately I've not seen that.

[overfeed]

> Which of course is a lot less polite and causes a lot of friction.

Most cultures have this, but it goes mostly unnoticed from the inside because one can read between the lines. "How are you?" can be asked just to be polite, and can cause friction when answered truthfully (rather than just politely, as the cultural dance requires). An Eastern European may not appreciate the insincerity of such a question.

[mikkupikku]

My experience is the same, to put it charitable a lot of people from that culture are often eager to please. I think about this a lot when I hear about billionaires like Elon Musk wanting more immigration from India specifically. I think this cultural trait often serves them well in western corporate contexts, despite the frustration it causes their coworkers.

[AndrewKemendo]

> I've seen an interesting behavior in India. If I ask someone on the street for directions, they will always give me an answer, even if they don't know. If they don't know, they'll make something up.

Isn’t this the precise failure pattern that everybody shits on LLMs for?

[chrisjj]

Only on surface. The difference is the LLM doesn't know it doesn't know. An LLM provides the best solition it has regardless of whether that solution is in any way fit for purpose.

[koliber]

Yes.

[melvinmelih]

--

[bakugo]

> This was strange. I asked a lot of Indian people about it and they said that it has to do with "saving face". Saying "I don't know" is a disgraceful thing.

I've recently learned that this particular type of "saving face" has a name: "izzat". Look that up if you want to know more.

[AlanYx]

A lot of the stuff written on "izzat" is questionable or wrong, but it is true that India has a collective concept of saving face. This can be an adjustment even if you're used to the East Asian concept of saving face.

[bluGill]

First I've heard of izzat...

I'm not sure how to write that better, but the way you worded that made me suspect it was NSFW and I hesitated, but eventually decided I'd risk it. At least everything I found was work safe, and I learned a lot. I encourage everyone else who hasn't heard the word to look it up.

[metanonsense]

I’ve seen this with some of my Indian colleagues, though definitely not all. In fact, most are more than eager to disagree with me :D (even though I’m their superior)

[mandeepj]

> In fact, most are more than eager to disagree with me :D (even though I’m their superior)

They must have spent a lot of time out of India or they are in senior roles.

[ilogik]

sounds like an LLM :)

[flakeoil]

It's the same in the UK (when it comes to giving directions). Maybe for completely different reasons. I guess they just want to be nice and helpful.

And always with a cheerful: "...you can't miss it."

Yeah, sure.

[quails8mydog]

That's not been my experience living in the UK. Whe I've asked for directions people either give correct ones (as far as I remember) or say they don't know. When people ask me and I don't know, I say I don't know.

[to11mtm]

> This behavior appears in software projects as well. It's difficult to work like this.

I have seen that across just about every culture in the software engineering world.

And not just in the 'business' itself. I still remember the argument I had with an Infosec guy where he absolutely insisted that every Jeep had AWD or 4WD from the factory, Even naming ones that didn't did nothing until I more or less passively aggressively sent him wikipedia links to a few vehicles.

At which point he proceeded to claim "No I said it was always a standard option" ... To be clear this whole argument started because someone asked why I swore by Subarus and mentioned 'Every US Model but the BRZ has AWD standard' but Heep owners gotta have false pride, idk.

People do weird shit with imposter syndrome sometimes, IDK.

[Izikiel43]

So it's like an LLM?

[projektfu]

According to Hal Roach, the Irish do this too, because they don't want to disappoint you. I haven't asked for a lot of directions in Ireland, but I can imagine this is true, or that they will just keep you chatting and see if you forget about your question.

[eklavya]

Every time I hear any Indian trope, I find it interesting that it's only people in online forum who experience it.

Somehow none of my non/Indian colleagues over the course of more than a decade have faced these ridiculous situations. They must be unlucky.

[SauntSolaire]

Many wouldn't be comfortable discussing this with coworkers.

[grugagag]

This reminds me of the time when I got lost when visiting LA about 20 year ago. Asked some guy on the street for help. He gave me directions as he was smirking at me. Turns out he pointed me in the opposite direction from where I was going to and most likely he was just being a dick.

[leephillips]

I got this so often in every part of the United States that some decades ago I just stopped asking anyone for directions.

[koliber]

Strange. Never had it happen regularly in the US.

[virgil_disgr4ce]

I've never once experienced this nor literally ever heard anyone say someone gave them made-up directions in the US.

The only time I've ever experienced made-up directions were trying to get out of the souk in Marrakech.