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PlatinumTheHitgirl t1_ja0z444 wrote

Reply to comment by nuggetwater in TIFU by backing my photos, endangering my gf's privacy by pieceofshit_lol

I'm not controlling the narrative. I replied only based on whatever you wrote.

I'm Asian and I've lived in Asia for 20 years. I'm pretty sure I know about the people and their lifestyles more than you.

And yes, smartphones are common. That might not have been your experience in the 4 months you were in Tibet, but most people, even underprivileged families, have smartphones. There's many smartphones available in Asia that are both cheap and provide a lot of features. You can get good smartphones for as cheap as $150. $1000 phones are also available but are obviously not as popular.

You did compare intelligence, and you're doing it again. "not many young kids who are lucky enough to have the phone quite understand all the capabilities". Yes, they do. Most people know what their smartphones are capable of. You saying that Asian kids for some reason don't is racist. It has nothing to do with having the same access. They have a smartphone, they explore what it can do. Why should they know less than kids elsewhere?

Stop generalizing all of Asia based on whatever experiences you had in your short 4 month stay in Tibet. I'm not saying your experiences are false, but they obviously don't apply to a whole continent.

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nuggetwater t1_ja251rf wrote

Generalizing asia? its poverty rates are among the highest in the world. i wont apologize for you being privileged enough to live in a nicer part of Asia but people in Thailand, Tibet, Indonesia, and so many more with poverty rates in the double digit percentiles disagree with your sentiments. this is my experience.

You may have lived in Asia for 20 years but i traveled it for 3 and have probably seen more than you. i used Tibet as a main example because i thought you may have been able to recognize one of the poorest places in Asia and thought "oh yeah that makes sense". but seems not.

lastly. your statement on racism is redundant. anything thats less common is less understood. thats that. its not only smartphones. this applies to the internet as a whole. places where it was less common despite having full access to it neglected its ability to infinitely ease their lives. thats why the countries latest to adopting it tend to lag behind China, U.S, and Europe.

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PlatinumTheHitgirl t1_ja286d2 wrote

I don't know what kind of stubborn ignorance it takes for you to say that you've seen more of Asia than me. You can't be seriously comparing your experiences as a traveler to mine, someone who was born and has lived there for most of her life, right? And are you really gonna make assumptions on how privileged I am when you know absolutely nothing about me? I'm from one of the poorest countries in the world. Thailand, Tibet, Indonesia? My country is poorer than them combined. Believe me, I know poverty. I never denied Asia has high poverty rates. I know that better than anyone else.

All I'm saying is that there's a myriad of cheap smartphones here. So cheap that even the extremely poor can afford them. And because they have access to them, they know how to use them. You say that Asian countries lagged behind the west in adopting to smartphones and the internet. I don't deny that. But I don't know when it was you travelled across Asia, because in recent years many Asian countries have developed exponentially when it comes to technology, and some of them barely lag behind the west, if at all.

Your argument is rooted in ignorance. You say that since smartphones aren't common, people don't know how to utilize them to their full potential. But the very basis of that argument is false. Smartphones are very common, and people know how to use them. And yes you are generalizing. You're applying your limited experience to all of Asia. That's what generalizing is.

I think arguing with you is pointless, though. You seem set on believing your view is the right one, and there's no amount of effort I can put into changing that. If you're really determined to believe your experience as an outsider grants you more knowledge about this place than someone who grew up here, go have fun with that.

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