Why do I see this strange phenomenon when I go to Finland?

In Finland, you can always see some very strange phenomena.

For example, the way Finns wait for the bus is a special “Finnish queue”;

Their lounge chairs are also single seats arranged in scattered patterns; even ordering takeout in Finland is "sneaky".

It's said online that this is because Finns have social phobia, but you shouldn't make it so obvious, as if you're afraid that others won't know, okay?

The feeling of "keep away from strangers" written all over the body really confuses foreigners who come to Finland for tourism. Of course, thanks to this kind of socially fearful queue, it is also easy to tell whether you are a foreigner at a glance.

This kind of behavior has resulted in some public facilities in Finland being rendered useless, such as bus shelters and awnings. In the eyes of the Finns, as long as there is a person in a bus shelter, it is a terrifying low-pressure zone. They would rather stand outside in the rain and snow than not maintain an absolutely safe distance.

The chairs in public places in Finland are not only luxurious single-seat designs, but each chair is more than one meter apart and facing a 45-degree angle so as not to make eyes at you.

Even cats in Finland attach great importance to their personal space and feel embarrassed if there is less than one centimeter.

After these strange behaviors of Finns became popular, they received soul-searching questions from all over the world: Are all Finns so introverted?

Finnish painter Karoliina Korhonen even created a cartoon character named Matti wearing a Nordic blue hat to show people their social phobia from all aspects of life.

The Finnish Nightmare

When a Finn is about to go out and runs into a neighbor in the corridor, "Not disturbing is my kindness."

When you are about to go out and your neighbor is in the hallway

When the Finns wanted to try a free snack but didn't want to have any communication with the salesperson, their eyes were filled with greed. Come on, are you also uncompromising when it comes to food? !

You want a free sample but you don’t want to talk to a salesperson

When a Finn wants to get off a bus, but the public button is broken, he can only ask the driver to stop the bus.

The get off button is broken, you can only ask the driver to stop

Let us boldly imagine whether Matti would wait until the next passenger gets off the bus and get off with him in order to preserve his Finnish dignity.

After all, the real Finns I know will still get on the bus even if they hail the wrong bus. They really don't want to cause trouble to others.

You stopped the wrong car but you felt embarrassed and had to get on it anyway

Actually, looking at it this way, I think this kind of thinking and behavior of "not wanting to bother with your mouth at all" is a bit cute. I even want to be friends with the Finns.

Therefore, these comics named "Finn's Nightmare" became popular around the world, letting everyone know that the Finns are such a "shy" group of people.

Shy Finn

But whenever an individual's behavior develops into a group or even a culture, there must be a reason behind it. Why is that?

First, let's look at the geographical location. Finland is located at the northernmost tip of the European continent, with one-third of its land area within the Arctic Circle.

Most of the population and agricultural resources are concentrated in the south, while the north and east are sparsely populated and have vast wilderness areas.

In terms of population, Finland has a population of about 5.5 million, and its land area is 338,000 square kilometers, which means their average population density is 16 people per hectare.

My God, this is what it means to have a vast land and a sparsely populated area !

Therefore, every Finn has a considerable personal space. Over time, everyone gets used to living in their own world and inevitably fears being disturbed by outsiders.

Finland has only two types of climate: short and mild summers and long and cold winters, with the average temperature around minus 17 degrees Celsius. In areas close to the Arctic Circle, there are also polar days and polar nights.

Beautiful Northern Lights in Finland

In such extreme weather, the Finns may have been too cold to socialize.

You know what? Studies have shown that regional ambient temperature is an important reason why human personality traits vary systematically between geographical regions around the world.

In order to test the relationship between ambient temperature and personality, researchers conducted two large-scale studies in two geographically different but culturally different countries (China and the United States), using a large amount of data and multi-level analysis. The results showed that people who grew up in areas with higher temperatures (close to 22°C) had higher scores on personality factors and were more socialized. In other words, people who grew up in warmer environments are more extroverted.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand. When the temperature is comfortable, everyone is more willing to go out for outdoor activities, take a walk together, chat, and expand new social circles.

On the other hand, when the weather is too cold or too hot, people tend to stay indoors and reduce unnecessary social activities.

Then the question arises again, Finland is not the only region with year-round cold weather, so why are the Finns the only ones more introverted?

Another explanation is that the Finns have introvert genes . 90.9% of Finns are ethnic Finns, who have relatively few ancestral groups and strong genetic isolation, giving Finland a unique genetic structure across the country.

Niina Junttila, a senior researcher at the University of Turku, has been involved in a 16-year longitudinal study to uncover the full picture of loneliness in Finland. She found from the parents and children studied that loneliness tends to be inherited, so she believes that shyness, gentleness, and intimacy are traits that are passed down through genes.

Influenced by such an environment, Finland began to worship "sacred silence". In Finland, there is a saying that "silence is gold, speech is silver". So, if you travel to Finland, you may try to communicate with Finns with your eyes...