Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/7-quick-takes-friday-6

Comment #2664

2011-11-11T20:19:46Z

I can only speak for my experience in Switzerland:

I was able to navigate the Basel trams at age six, and all my friends and I walked to Kindergarten on our own (age five to six, wearing a reflective triangle). (The latter may be changing: I seem to see more parents accompanying children.)

Middle schoolers routinely take public transport to school, if it's too far to bike.

Comment #2663

2011-11-11T16:06:21Z

Great post, and don't worry about "quick." I'm stealing your flow chart, which is as close to a "theory of everything" as I have ever seen. Thank you.

Comment #2662

2011-11-11T15:54:07Z

#7 - Yes, it may explain a lot, especially for introverts like me—and so many who love to use computers are introverts. For example, my strength is in written communication, not oral. E-mail, instant messaging, and blog posting enable me to communicate much more easily and effectively. However, they also enable me to avoid oral communication (phone and in person) in favor of more comfortable media, which means I get still less practice in my weak areas, which means I become less and less comfortable exercising them.

I agree with the Europeans about friendship. That's an introvert thing too, I think—preferring deep friendships developed over time. I remember great frustration over some Christian camps I attended, in which we were encouraged (one might say manipulated) to form close attachments to our fellow campers. And it really felt as if we had. But although it did sometimes help us become closer to those we already knew and with whom we would have further in-person contact (those from our own school), once the camp was over, the supposed bond with those who had been strangers at the beginning of the week (or month) quickly wore off. Perhaps vehicles like Facebook help people keep in touch these days, but back then the effort it took to write a letter was more than most college students could manage.

Comment #2661

2011-11-11T14:47:21Z

It's hard to keep all the thoughts straight in a 7-quick-takes, and I still have notes on what I wanted to say from your last quick-takes, so this time I'll just shoot from the top of my head. #1 reminds me of a joke about a conversation between a Dutchman and an American. I don't know if I have it all right, but they both come away thinking the other is very rude. The Dutchman complains that the American just asked rude personal questions he couldn't avoid the whole time and the American comes away saying that the Dutchman just talked about himself the whole time. The other thing that comes to mind is how often Europeans think that Americans are shallow or rude because they're very friendly at first, so that indicates a deep friendship to the European, but they're not very good with following through. Once the European is back in Europe, that's usually the end of the friendship. In Europe, however, friendships take more time to form but that last a long time, if not forever. People are committed to you once they know you - and I don't mean just through Facebook!

#6 - I see 5-year-olds on trams without guidance all the time. They do wear reflective gear, though. I don't see them that young on trains alone, but certainly I see plenty of 8-10 year-olds alone or in unattended groups.

#7 - "[S]tudies show multitasking on the Internet can make you forget how to read human emotions." That explains a lot . . .