InFlux

i spent a significant amount of my time the past several years among students in lower-level degree/certificate programmes that contain a more realistic sample size of the "general population" than prestigious universities or higher level degrees. i also end up spending a lot of time looking after a child and thus also keeping up with their social life and other important things and trying to help them out however i can. yes, there has always been illiteracy but now there is a noticeable acceleration. if i recall, you are or were a graduate student, so your most recent experience in a very large group of people might be among the more educated. but I live in a relatively educated area and it's still noticeably different than how it was before. and this is like, a lucky place to be. in more rural or republican-heavy areas with less quality of life funding the issues are exacerbated. it's not a question of if there's a problem with literacy and education but rather a question of why.

First time using tumblr, kinda nervous— But here is a 1-hour study I did of my boy Merlin!

When Co-workers do things like ask about weekend plans, chat about non-work topics, eat lunch in the same room, they are--subconsciously--reaffirming that they are part of a cooperative (or, minimally, non-antagonistic) social group.

The other primates cement social bonds by grooming each other; we do it by making small talk.

If they solicit your participation in these rituals, and you repeatedly refuse those bids, you are marking yourself out as, at best, an outsider to the group, and thus potentially antagonistic.

This is all happening on the monkey-brain level; they have no idea what they're doing or how they are interpreting your response, so there's no way to clear up the misunderstanding.

To the ape sleeping in your co-worker's DNA, either you are part of the grooming circle, or you are an outsider who, for all it knows, may be coming to steal all the bananas.

at some point, either in response to an invitation, or just in the natural course of conversation, you can add in that you are a "quiet type" who "needs their silence" or what have you. customize to your personal needs. i find it helpful to imagine a well dressed elderly woman describing the sort of peace she needs to manifest.

roughly once a week if you see a group of people chatting, engage with them. keep it pleasant. it can be superficial. word will travel that you are Nice and Quiet and Not The Chatty Type protecting you from group lunches etc. if you have an office with a door that you keep closed a lot, putting up any kind of decor will also send positive signals.

oh.

ohhhhhhhhh no

The reason its so long and skinny is because Louisiana has (had? not sure if they're still in place) Forced Heirship laws. which means that you are required to leave a portion of your estate to qualifying heirs, regardless of whether you or they want it, and also regardless of what your will says. This is then combined with the fact that property in many parts of Louisiana was originally divvied up into parcels by Spanish land grants, which looked like this:

It’s so painfully individualistic. Of course me doing that thing isn’t going to save anybody or anything.

Im not trying to be a superhero who personally saves the say.

I am one leaf making oxygen in a massive forest of other trees making oxygen. I am doing my best and having faith that millions of others will do their best as well.

Because that can and has made big changes over time. Like. That is just how change happens. Thats cultural shifts. Thats political shifts. Thats how lasting changes happen.

I don’t plant milkweed because I’m personally gonna save monarch butterflies. I plant milkweed because I know thousands of us are gonna plant milkweed and send money to the people fighting horrible pesticides in court.