Page 17 - connectwiththeworldCH1

NICHOLAS BOOTHMAN
But one thing is for sure that we all need a real face-to-face person we love and trust to give us honest feedback about how we’re doing. Talking to the cat and answering back on its behalf can be comforting but it doesn’t really doesn’t cut it. We are not closed, self-regulating systems, but open loops regulated, disciplined, encouraged, reprimanded, supported and validated by the emotional feedback we receive from others.
Is It Time For a Change?
In the Gorongosa National Game Park in Mozambique, visitors sit down with the staff to chat over lunch. Apple pickers in Norway hang excess apples in bags on their fences so strangers can chat and help themselves. In the Israeli-Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, Soccer for Peace sees Arab and Israeli children living, eating, sleeping, talking and playing together. Pianos are placed in parks in Portland, Oregon with signs asking strangers to come together over music. Strangers come together to raise money, build shelters, remember fallen heroes and celebrate holidays.
When 200 teens were asked, “Could you stand in a line up and talk to a stranger?” A few of the boys said yes, while almost all of the girls said no. When asked, “Do you wish you could talk to strangers?” there was a resounding “Yes.”
On a recent BBC radio program about the rapid rise of conversation clubs and salons among working Millennials in cafes and pubs around the British Isles, one guest told the host
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