General Fragility
I have a chapter in Part One of the Handbook called “Fragility.” While there are many meanings for the word, this discussion focuses on how human fragility interrupts the ability to be a Neighbor. As it supports this term, I’ll recap it here.
Fragility is a specific response to conflict, criticism, or the threat of being wrong or having made a mistake. It can be had by any person or any Group regardless of who they are. I believe fragility usually stems from the subconscious fear that our mistakes are not simply mistakes but a sign that we’re fundamentally flawed, or worse, bad people. When fragile, hidden below our conscious thoughts is a fear our mistakes will expose us in a way that will somehow break us.