Thank you Kaisa for this lovely post. The last paragraph really struck home for me. If we are using AI to help build a better world, who exactly is it going to be better for? And how? 🙏
First, you articulated something about Finnish culture that I have always sensed but could never put my finger onto: the expectation of seamlessness. And if you disrupt that, you're a problem. Even though there is something similar going on in a lot of Germanic cultures - I grew up between the two - the Finnish one takes it much deeper; it applies to human behaviour too. Germans (and Luxembourgers) *love* to complain precisely when the systems don't work as they're supposed to; in Finland even that is frowned upon - you're just supposed to fix things seamlessly, any unnecessary mention of the problem is also seen as a disruption.
Thank you for chrystallising that for me :)
And second, I love how you tie this in with an engineering mindset and our mindless drive for automation, without stopping to ask what the wider implications are.
Lastly, I love how you arrive at "different doesn't necessarily mean worse or better - it's just different, with different pros and cons". I wish more people could recognise this when looking at how different societies and cultures around the world work! I suspect that would help us have far fewer conflicts...
And I 100% agree about recognizing that every culture can offer something valuable! There is so much wisdom and tradition. A pet peeve of mine about the Finnish mentality is that many people think that their way of doing things is the right way, which is sometimes true but often they would benefit from learning from others
Ha, tell me about it… though it’s not unique to Finnish mentality. That attitude is also very familiar to me from Luxembourg.
Have you heard of the culture map by Erin Meyer? You might enjoy it; she describes different axes of cultural differences, and I find that framework really useful. She focuses on business applications but I found it helpful just to put words on things I’d observed but couldn’t quite put my finger on!
Yes I’m sure many other cultures have the same tendency! Looking at you, Germany 👀 I haven’t heard of the culture map but I will definitely look it up, thanks for the tip!
Whoa, thank you for the thoughtful analysis! I like to look for comparisons between seemingly unrelated things, because to me it’s fascinating how everything, on some level, is more or less connected. However, sometimes that connection is only in my head. Happy to hear this time it wasn’t the case :)
This essay feels like an argument for friction as a form of care. The moments that linger: the notebook at the pool, the stalled consulate visit, the post office conversation—are all reminders that when systems pause, people appear. In a world racing toward automation, this felt like a necessary slowing down, an insistence that functioning societies still need room for recognition. This essay asks the right question: not whether systems work, but who they’re built for.
Thank you Kaisa for this lovely post. The last paragraph really struck home for me. If we are using AI to help build a better world, who exactly is it going to be better for? And how? 🙏
Thank you Sam! Those are the exact questions that we need to ask again and again, but often forget
I love this on so many levels.
First, you articulated something about Finnish culture that I have always sensed but could never put my finger onto: the expectation of seamlessness. And if you disrupt that, you're a problem. Even though there is something similar going on in a lot of Germanic cultures - I grew up between the two - the Finnish one takes it much deeper; it applies to human behaviour too. Germans (and Luxembourgers) *love* to complain precisely when the systems don't work as they're supposed to; in Finland even that is frowned upon - you're just supposed to fix things seamlessly, any unnecessary mention of the problem is also seen as a disruption.
Thank you for chrystallising that for me :)
And second, I love how you tie this in with an engineering mindset and our mindless drive for automation, without stopping to ask what the wider implications are.
Lastly, I love how you arrive at "different doesn't necessarily mean worse or better - it's just different, with different pros and cons". I wish more people could recognise this when looking at how different societies and cultures around the world work! I suspect that would help us have far fewer conflicts...
And I 100% agree about recognizing that every culture can offer something valuable! There is so much wisdom and tradition. A pet peeve of mine about the Finnish mentality is that many people think that their way of doing things is the right way, which is sometimes true but often they would benefit from learning from others
Ha, tell me about it… though it’s not unique to Finnish mentality. That attitude is also very familiar to me from Luxembourg.
Have you heard of the culture map by Erin Meyer? You might enjoy it; she describes different axes of cultural differences, and I find that framework really useful. She focuses on business applications but I found it helpful just to put words on things I’d observed but couldn’t quite put my finger on!
Yes I’m sure many other cultures have the same tendency! Looking at you, Germany 👀 I haven’t heard of the culture map but I will definitely look it up, thanks for the tip!
Whoa, thank you for the thoughtful analysis! I like to look for comparisons between seemingly unrelated things, because to me it’s fascinating how everything, on some level, is more or less connected. However, sometimes that connection is only in my head. Happy to hear this time it wasn’t the case :)
I’m with you, I love looking for parallels and contemplating connections between different things - maybe that’s why I liked this piece so much :)
This made me smile! I had the Finnish babybox in mind, it’s so practical.
It’s so funny that you mention the baby box! Receiving that box made me realize how Finnish baby clothes are designed differently
This essay feels like an argument for friction as a form of care. The moments that linger: the notebook at the pool, the stalled consulate visit, the post office conversation—are all reminders that when systems pause, people appear. In a world racing toward automation, this felt like a necessary slowing down, an insistence that functioning societies still need room for recognition. This essay asks the right question: not whether systems work, but who they’re built for.
Well said, thank you!