As a support provider (think well-trained best friend), I have been working with people with typical and divergent styles for a long time, and have developed friendships at many different levels and in many different ways with the people I work with. We have the luxury of spending significant amounts of time together over several years. I get the chance to really KNOW the people I work with. If there is one thing I wish everyone, typical or not, understood, is that EVERYONE has social anxiety of some sort, to some degree. They have different ways to navigate that anxiety, with different results. I find that the key to being with other people is to be able to recognize their anxiety adaptive strategies, and to be able to tell, in the moment, how they are feeling, as evidence by their non verbals. For what it’s worth, I hope anyone here can take some of what I have said and put it to use to develop success in their own social endeavors, or simply navigating everyday life. It is a life-time work to learn, and there is always something more to add to the body of one’s personal knowledge and understanding, but the key point of understanding that anxiety is an overriding and underlying process that is ALWAYS present in social interactions can be a helpful starting point. This is a subject that is dear to me, so if anyone has any interest in talking more about this, please respond! 🙂
This article seems to be based around an assumption that the entire story of what is going on in Ukraine is obvious on its face. What is obvious is that the level of smoke and mirrors employed in this situation is on a generational scale. There are adults who were not alive to witness the last time we witnessed this level of obfuscation, control of the narrative, and use of the age old tactic of distraction
Besides all of that, this article seems to pick and choose its obvious points and disregard many others
All of that is to say that this is part of the overall effort, a position which is further supported by the fact that this article is printed by the esteemed simplicius. You know, that renowned author of insightful commentary that we all know so well