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> Humans require social touch, but the rules that govern its deployment are not biologically determined... On the contrary; social touch, with the ensuing spec

> Humans require social touch, but the rules that govern its deployment are not biologically determined... On the contrary; social touch, with the ensuing spectrum between "discomfort/aggression/dominance" and "affiliation/friendship/social comfort" is actually found in all social mammals, it has nothing to do with society, gender, sexual undertones or anything human-specific like that! Even domesticated cats http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=5962 http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=5962 http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=1771 http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=1771 have a basic, instinct-driven understanding of how the aforementioned spectrum should be carefully negotiated if one is to establish a genuinely-experienced social bond. I'm sorry but yes, per the above, Biden's "touchy-feely" behavior with strangers has indeed been singularly clueless, even unintentionally creepy and disturbing, in neglecting these obvious facts. Biden is one of the major figures in U.S. politics and obviously socially competent - he has no excuse for this.

everdrive 8y ago
You're helping to create a very cold world. I've heard the term neopuritan thrown around in this context, and the more I think about it the more it fits. The modern obsession with harshly judging the body language, physical touch, and emotion of individuals today feels like a technology-enabled Scarlet Letter. People's preferences aren't immediately self-evident to all observers, and intent does matter.
- siliconunit 8y ago
  Absolutely agree with this. I find it quite sad when I see young non religious people at work behaving like monks and nuns in fear of human latent intentions and interpretations of their behaviour. Sometimes reading too much theory and having too many specific words that define phenomenons which you have not yet experienced and elaborated can lead to a very frustrating life to say the least..
- 0815test 8y ago
  "Coldness", formality and due process are actually the best defense when dealing with someone who is in an obvious position of power. I'm not sure why people are pretending that Joe Biden is just an average guy who has gotten a little too comfy with some social acquaintance of his (the scenario that one might have a "cold" overreaction to). I do wonder what would happen if we were talking about Mike Pence doing the same things. Would the Washington Post be saying the same things about the inherent necessity of touch?
true_religion 8y ago
How do you deal with the dissonance of Biden being a leading political figure, whilst being socially incompetent? How does he get voters? Why aren’t people who meet him singularly turned against his candidacy?

everdrive 8y ago

You're helping to create a very cold world. I've heard the term neopuritan thrown around in this context, and the more I think about it the more it fits. The modern obsession with harshly judging the body language, physical touch, and emotion of individuals today feels like a technology-enabled Scarlet Letter. People's preferences aren't immediately self-evident to all observers, and intent does matter.

siliconunit 8y ago
Absolutely agree with this. I find it quite sad when I see young non religious people at work behaving like monks and nuns in fear of human latent intentions and interpretations of their behaviour. Sometimes reading too much theory and having too many specific words that define phenomenons which you have not yet experienced and elaborated can lead to a very frustrating life to say the least..
0815test 8y ago
"Coldness", formality and due process are actually the best defense when dealing with someone who is in an obvious position of power. I'm not sure why people are pretending that Joe Biden is just an average guy who has gotten a little too comfy with some social acquaintance of his (the scenario that one might have a "cold" overreaction to). I do wonder what would happen if we were talking about Mike Pence doing the same things. Would the Washington Post be saying the same things about the inherent necessity of touch?

true_religion 8y ago

How do you deal with the dissonance of Biden being a leading political figure, whilst being socially incompetent? How does he get voters? Why aren’t people who meet him singularly turned against his candidacy?