Discussion as a means of resolving conflict as opposed to resorting to violence is so important to Scandinavians that the ancient Norse even had a god, Glitnir, that symbolized that very ideal.
Which is pretty damn cool. Can you imagine if every single country on the planet had made conflict resolution via discussion a priority? How much better would things be for everyone? Instead of resorting to war, countries would resort to words, and armies would consist of troops trained to debate. The best debaters would be exalted in the history books for their skills at settling issues using nothing but their wits and words.
That, of course, would require that the world as a whole spoke a common language, which will happen eventually. It will most likely be the American version of English, too, as that is the language of the world's economy.
That's how Capitalism is saving the world, BTW, by forcing people from countries as diverse as China and Nigeria to learn English in order to conduct business (There are more English speakers in China than there are in North America. Not just the U.S., the whole of the North American continent).
Want to know how pervasive the use of English is? Go to Paris, walk into a McDonalds (Yep, there are McD's in Paris), and place your order in English. Your order will be taken and you will get exactly what you ordered. Then drive through France to Portugal and go to a McDonalds in Lisbon. Place the same order in English, you'll get the same result. Then drive to Moscow (take your time, don't break any traffic laws). Do the same thing - yep, you get the same results.
That's pretty damn impressive when you think about it. Despite the best effort of bigoted nationalists in sundry countries all over the world, English is a common denominator for those who conduct business just about... everywhere.
Want to be an airline pilot or air traffic controller? Better learn fluent English, because that is the international language of the aviation industry.
It's apparently also the international language of protesters. Ever notice how many signs protesters in non-English speaking countries are holding that are written in English? Watch any news program that is covering a protest anywhere on the face of the planet, there will be signs written in English. It's uncanny.
But it's also good. The better we as a race (the human race) can understand one another, the more likely it is we will be able to reach understandings on issues that lead to violent conflict - before they reach the violent conflict stage.
The most common word spoken in nearly every country is OK, sometimes spelled okay. That word is relatively young, first used in Boston about 200 years ago. As American English as a word can get.
It means everything is alright.
Which is a great word for the world to have in common.
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