some of the descriptions above of thoughtful supportive work places where people are free to explore different ideas and question assumptions sound like paradise.

Or judged via rose coloured spectacles.

My entire career - New Zealand, and Australia - asking questions is weaponised (as I stated above)

Graduate, Junior, Senior, Team Lead, - my title hasn't mattered to the response

You're working in toxic workplaces. Most of them aren't like this.

(I believe you when you say that most of yours are like this.)

Unionize

I bet most workplaces are toxic in exactly this way.

IBM Aus discouraged it, Accenture, Concentrix, EY, CommBank, ANZ, and others all encouraged it, for myself.

I wouldn't say discouraging it will be the norm across most places in Australia.

Somewhat, but not exactly the reverse, is Tall poppy syndrome:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_poppy_syndrome

I had read it about AU and JP and had read about the Jante thing, but the article says it is there in some other countries too. Probably exists everywhere in some form.

I wonder if people here have experienced anything like that. My guess is yes.

That, I have certainly seen.

But that is about attacking success stories, not about attacking you for not knowing something. I know you said reverse, just spelling out they're different.

Win an award? Get a callout for effort? Rest of the office will probably dunk on you. Varying in scale from a day or two of jokes to career ruining.

But... Ask the meaning of an acronym in a meeting, or say you don't know how to do something, and you'll probably just be given a name to ask.

>I know you said reverse, just spelling out they're different.

Hey. Sup. :)

I didn't say reverse.

I said:

>Somewhat, but not exactly the reverse, is Tall poppy syndrome.

Next time, and forever after, check points better before commenting, including the point that is right above the comment that you replied to, aka mine.

Pinky promise? :)

Welcome to the AI (r)age, where people comment without thinking or reading.

Oops, mea culpa.

Entschulding!

It was happening much before that, and not only on HN.

In fact, it has been happening forever, and anyone who doesn't know it is a rotten egg.

<Jumps into the pool ahead of others. (last one in, etc.)>

Well, this is some fun irony. An attacking comment, for offering an explanation, and acknowledging the prevalence of that particular cultural item.

You just attacked an explanation, including personal slag like "anyone who doesn't know".

I did it because you misquoted me about my use of the word "reverse" in a sentence, as I clearly pointed out above. So it was like making someone (me) look like they said something they didn't say.

But maybe I went at it too strong.

>Entschulding

Typo, entschuldigung.