Facts about Sweden worth knowing about

At the top of the page, you can click on Discover that will give you a heap of information on Sweden.

I don't know if it is worth or not for you, or for anyone else. So let us discuss the matter all together. Others may join us later but we are already three different types of profiles; myself, Simon and you;  a south east Asian in a western country, a western expat in another western country (Europe), and you with middle eastern heritage but grew up in the US and wanted to know about the Europe.

I tell you all a story then we analyse it all together.

This enormous forest where my old primitive cottage is located actually also is hunting grounds for a hunting club, I only own the little land around my cottage and the rest belongs to a forest company which in turn has leased the ground to a hunting club for hunting only. That is the normal way when it comes to hunting on company own forestland.

When I first showed up here for four years ago I unintentionally happened to almost surprise these hunters when they were walking into the woods with their guns. When they saw me although they were surprised, the first thing they did was point their guns down at the ground, so that the gun barrels would not point in my direction. I saw how careful and anxious all three hunters to do it very quickly.   

These people have hunted in this land since they were boys with their fathers. This is Sweden the country of Swedes. I am a Sri Lankan who showed up from no where and surprised them in their hunting ground. And that was their first reaction.

From Finnbo's experience I hear that the 3 Swedish hunters instinctive behaviour/reaction was based on knowing the difference between the right way and the wrong way of carrying weapons! It's a huge responsibility to carry a weapon of any kind that holds the potential of harming another, whether a human or an animal.

There were no 'hillbilly' behaviour, just acknowledging the presence of a fellow human being and respecting Finnbo's presence, despite both parties' surprise in meeting in the forest.

We should be cognisant about the elements of unpacking here. Analysing Finnbo's experience elicits hypothetical derivations, excluding limiting assumptions. Since we're only unpacking his experience we are only exploring human behaviour within a specific context.

Carinna, Jag tackar och bockar=I thank you and bow (in everyday Swedish) because your participation added another continent to the discussion and mostly you took it to a level which it is supposed to be reached.

Porcelainqueen, Is it possible for three brains to think and act exact the same way within a half a second of time? I think Carinna`s explanation makes more sense.

However there must be a some kind of background for this "There were no 'hillbilly' behaviour, just acknowledging the presence of a fellow human being and respecting Finnbo's presence, despite both parties' surprise in meeting in the forest." That is where we can find out some rare facts about Sweden worth knowing about.

In this particular case these people have weapon licences and hunting licence certificates. In order to be granted those you have to go through a special education and fulfill many requirements.
It is prohibited to point a firearm at someone.
There is something called "allemansrätten" freedom to roam anywhere a person like, regardless of who owns the property.

Now I had all those on my side but I didn't have any witnesses if any "accident" ever took place, or any kind of slightest little harassment that push me to be an underdog. They could follow the rules and the same time put me to "my place" if they wish to, which have made me miserable enough even to give up the enjoyment my cottage and it's lifestyle gives me. Why didn't they even think about to do something like that?

"Jantelagen" Law of Jante is a code of conduct in Scandinavia with 10 cultural codes.
1. You shall not think you are anything special.
2. You shall not think you are as good as we are.
3. You shall not think you are smarter than we are.
4. You shall not imagine yourself better than we are.
5. You shall not think you know more than we do.
6. You shall not think you are more important than we are.
7. You shall not think you are good at anything.
8.  You shall not laugh at us.
9.  You shall not think anyone cares about you.
10. You shall not think you can teach us anything.

Those are only cultural code of conduct which had been existed in Scandinavia since early 1900s but after a book called "A fugitive crosses his tracks" of a Norwegian author which published in 1933, this code of conduct had been inserted into Scandinavian mind and still exists to a certain level in whole Scandinavia. It all leads to one word "Equality". According to me that is the most important fact about Sweden worth knowing about.

Hej Finnbo & Everybody

Needless to say, I could not resist the temptation of sharing the 'Law of Jante' with one of my colleagues. He is not a member of this group, however, his response to this profound info that Finnbo shared wth us, is as follows:

"Hello everyone, I am lucky enough to know Carinna and was grateful to receive this specific conversation.
From a (South African) psychological dynamic perspective, the Law of Jante is profound.
I will surely use this matter, especially where (shock) cognitive restructuring is required.
It is indeed a classical human paradox, Jantelagen.
Best wishes from the Southern tip of Africa.
Wiehann Rademan"

After reading the post above  "I said to myself what a wonderful world"

Well! since this forum exists this young lady from the US thought to ask for some information about Sweden and since she asked, members started to feed her with information about Sweden which finally ended up in the hands of a psychologist in South Africa. Isn't it fantastic!

Since I was born and have lived half of my life in Sri Lanka, where the mentality is totally the opposite of Jantelagen and since I still have leftovers from that episode of my life in me, I have actually thought about sometimes which part is the most vital ingredient; The forum, the members who asking questions or the members who answering.

It appeared to me simply that Jantelagen was right there, No forum No questions, No questions No answers meaning all three parts are equally important to squeeze out some juicy information.