tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461948747659071092.post8756971714991700311..comments2023-09-29T02:49:02.989-07:00Comments on An Emphatic Umph: Critical is SexyDaniel Coffeenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912050391869734890noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461948747659071092.post-4023251372274205842012-07-17T22:09:25.935-07:002012-07-17T22:09:25.935-07:00I am a fan of politeness because it is a great tec...I am a fan of politeness because it is a great technology to navigate physical bodies in the social world. That is, politneess is the oil that helps a crowded world of colliding bodies and exchanging goods function. Please, thank you, excuse me: these are gestures that move bodies. I don't think politeness is kind — it's wise and well heeled but it's outside the category of kindness. Which is to say, one can be a polite meanie.<br /><br />Here, I'm talking about more than just encountering a body trying to enter the same building in which a simple, "You first," suffices. I'm talking about more intimate interactions, modes of behavior that resonate beyond my body in the social but my being in the social. Here, the stakes are higher and the demands more insidious and difficult to negotiate.Daniel Coffeenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03912050391869734890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461948747659071092.post-71585623619925201422012-07-16T23:04:28.468-07:002012-07-16T23:04:28.468-07:00You're a very polite person. Can you talk abou...You're a very polite person. Can you talk about the difference between politeness and speaking "in the true"? <br /><br />I think you could describe politeness as a certain healthy distance. And I think you could describe boring, predictable conversations in much the same way - you don't get to connect with someone if you're speaking in platitudes. And yet politeness is a strangely intimate kind of distance - its affirmative and kind. And "in the true" conversations feel cold and dead and exhausting. What's the difference?Lindsay Meiselhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17250501133788792507noreply@blogger.com