17 Comments
Aug 27, 2022Liked by Mary Gaitskill

In NYC in the 80s a homeless guy around Avenue A and 5th I think (or maybe it was further West -- probably) taught me about "360 Degrees of Knowledge" -- the idea is that if you live on the street your have to know what' s happening all around you. That's stuck with me since then. I've since learned that the human nervous system is actually two nervous systems klujed together; a jellyfish nervous system which is a net which information spreads out along, and a spinal-chord based nervous system which sends signals up to the brain and then back down to the rest of the body. I think the guy I was talking to was talking about that sort of jellyfish awareness. It's a real thing. I liked your piece about actual physical encounters with people. That's important.

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Just returned from Prague. The better life is indeed, there.

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It’s amazing how quickly two strangers can find common ground through face to face conversation. It’s encouraging how fast the plastic divisions on social media fall away in the presence of the spoken word given in kindness.

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It's a central European maxim. Fascists have long memories. Like murderers.

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As an American living in Berlin, I can say that the sanity level is way higher here. I agree about taxi drivers- I‘ve had one here whip put a youtube video about why Germany prefers to pay in cash because he was so passionate about the issue- I was really grateful. In London, I had a driver who used to work for a Chinese Airline that had very early m exposure of COVID to the UK come in through Heathrow. They have some

of the best wisdom out there. Thank you for this post.

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Only an eastern Or Central European can point to the dangers of a MAGA led coup.

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This is an interesting extension of your post on Physical Approach. I live in a small Aussie city where approach is easily avoided and so are taxis. I miss those detours and unexpected perspectives.

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Oh seriously man. These things are hardly ideal but you gotta be real. Try not to join the crazies. :-)

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