Urban tolerance is tempered with an acceptance of conflict and pain
Evidence
Within the realms of culture and society, conflict is tonic and constructive. The different worlds of culture are not really antagonistic to one another; they conflict only insofar as they compete for attention and resources. The irreconcilable differences among them are the source of the greatest richness and profundity in life. Similarly, the conflicts among individuals and between different formal principles are the preconditions for a determinate structure in society. They give society texture, durability, and resilience. The desire for a social world of perfect harmony is thus fundamentally misguided. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 93 (
#corroborates, via linked claim)
The whole inner organization of urban interaction is based on an extremely complex hierarchy of sympathies, indifferences, and aversions of both the most short-lived and the most enduring kind. And in this complex, the sphere of indifference is relatively limited. Our psychological activity responds to almost every impression that comes from another person with a certain determinate feeling. The subconscious, fleeting, changeful nature of this feeling only seems to reduce it to indifference. Actually, such indifference would be as unnatural to us as the vague character of innumerable contradictory stimuli would be unbearable. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 285 (
#expands, via linked claim)
Categorization
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
- XREF: connects to: Preindustrial city streets displayed suffering and mutilation at levels incomprehensible to moderns; Urban interaction rests on a hierarchy of sympathies, indifferences, and aversions. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 285; Irreconcilable conflict gives society its texture, durability, and resilience — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 93
Related
- Irreconcilable conflict gives society its texture, durability, and resilience (similarity 0.88)
- Urban interaction rests on a hierarchy of sympathies, indifferences, and aversions. (similarity 0.84)
- Conflict is a positive force distinct from mere indifference (similarity 0.81)
Broader Connections
- Irreconcilable conflict gives society its texture, durability, and resilience
#corroborates(0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 93 - Urban interaction rests on a hierarchy of sympathies, indifferences, and aversions.
#expands(0.70) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 285