Janteloven... as told by two Norwegians, a Finn and an American:

As part of my thesis this past spring I did some research into Janteloven, "Jante's Law", which is essentially a code of conduct and pattern of group behavior in Scandinavia centered around the idea that nobody is superior to anybody else. The "laws" were originally set down by Danish (or so I thought until this afternoon) author Aksel Sandemose in his 1933 novel, En flyktning krysser sitt spor, "A fugitive crosses his tracks". He didn't at all invent the term or pattern but merely described, somewhat satirically, the Danish village of Jante in which everyone lived by these 'commandments'.

Mr. Aksel Sandemose himself

The rules state (translation courtesy of Wikipedia):

        1.       You are not to think you're anything special.

               2.     You are not to think you're as good as us.

               3.     You are not to think you're smarter than us.

               4.     You are not to convince yourself that you're better than us.

               5.      You are not to think you know more than us.

               6.    You are not to think you are more important than us.

               7.     You are not to think you are good at anything.

               8.     You are not to laugh at us.

               9.     You are not to think anyone cares about you.

               10.  You are not to think you can teach us anything.

An eleventh rule recognized in the novel is:
         11.  You are not to think that there aren't a few things we know about you.

We’re all studying for the exams now (I’m finally out in the world among the people, mostly healthy!!!). During a break just a bit ago we started joking around about the Scandinavian panopticon because yeah, I make friends with that sort of crowd. Hege mentioned something about Janteloven and they turned to me to explain it but I knew about it from my thesis on Danish nationalism. Lotta said something like, “Oh really? Because the author was Swedish.” Hege and I then simultaneously insisted that he was Norwegian / Danish. Ohhh national identity, at it again.

Turns out we were all a little bit wrong – though Lotta was the wrongest ;). Aksel Sandemose was half Danish, half Norwegian. Grew up in Denmark and moved to Norway, but the town of “Jante” was technically placed somewhere in Jutland. Hege and our friend Mari, who is Norwegian and has lived in Copenhagen for the past four years, were completely shocked…. apparently in Norwegian they think of Janteloven as a Norwegian concept. We then launched into a conversation about Janteloven in their lives which was, for me, highly entertaining.

Lotta on advice she received from professors about how to get a job:  "You need to get over Jantelagen!"   (that's the Swedish spelling)

On online profiles/personalities:

Mari: “I don't want people to think I'm indirectly saying something good about myself on facebook so I have to be careful what I post."

Lotta: "I have to be careful when I’m writing on my blog – even having a blog could be bragging - I know my mother is reading it... so can't brag!"

Hege on how American talk about their physical appearance: “You can't say that you think you're beautiful - can't say it out loud."

Ohhhh Aksel, causing an international sensation in the 21st century....