Completely agree with your focus on discomfort. Occasional discomfort is an inescapable reality of social life and unfortunately the behavioral norms in America

Completely agree with your focus on discomfort. Occasional discomfort is an inescapable reality of social life and unfortunately the behavioral norms in America make it very difficult for the average person to develop sufficient tolerance to build deep and meaningful relationships. Every single aspect of human interaction has been designed to minimize this discomfort which unsurprisingly breeds cynicism, narcissism and distrust. Unfortunately this perspective is firmly embedded in the DNA of the U.S. so its tough to have an honest conversation about it without ethnocentrism / bias coming into the picture.