i’ve warmed up significantly towards the concept of small talk ever since i learned that its sole purpose is to make friendly noises.
as long as you smile and nod, people are satisfied. it’s just to show that you are nice and there with good intentions. we’re small in a big world and have to rely on other people to be decent to us. so we do our little human dance to each other to say, “i’m not here to hurt you. here’s something we have in common, like the weather or sports or itchy sweaters, so we both know we’re on the same team. we both agree on a basic fact, like that it is rainy or that being itchy is uncomfortable, and this proves we can get along. i’m being light-hearted and non-threatening right now.”
small talk isn’t to get to know a person. it’s just a greeting to affirm you’re buddies in the universe.
i am motivated by wanting the other person to know i am friendly, so i have gotten pretty decent at small talk when i used to hate it.
economists really took the divine right of kings and turned it into billionaire CEOs
“it’s kinda fucked up to reject the business practices of jeff bezos when he rightfully earned his position under capitalism”
“About twenty years ago, I attended a lecture by a Harvard professor who talked about how corporations operate like modern-day kingdoms. At one time, she said, people believed kings ruled by divine right, and today we seem to believe the same thing about corporations. Toward the end, she asked, “Do you know what it is that allowed people to let go of, overcome, and reject the notion of the divine right of kings?” I held my breath and got ready to take some notes. Her answer: “They just stopped believing in it.”
- Frances Moore Lappé
- Ursula K. Le Guin, speaking at the National Book Awards, 2014
Extremely excellent, very very very autistic quote from Brennan Lee Mulligan:
“Curiosity is love for the world, and when you love something, you want to get to know it more. So when you share facts about crows or pterodactyls or whatever, what you are expressing is gratitude for the ability to exist in and come to understand the beauty of the world around you.”
“When you tell someone that you don’t like all the crow facts, you’re…
"You’re actually saying that you hate me. I am my crow facts.”
This is a staunchly pro-bug zone. I may have contentious relationships with the ones that enjoy eating me or my food but that’s life baby. The great web…
ALT
