Books
fromThe Atlantic
5 months agoDo We Really Know How Isabel Archer Felt?
Emotional categories and reactions change across time; assuming past people felt as modern people do risks misunderstanding their behaviors and social norms.
I stared for a few seconds while Boddice smiled encouragingly, as if he'd just asked me to solve a quadratic equation in my head. "I guess it probably stung, and then his thumb throbbed?" I ventured, remembering actually banging my own thumb a few weeks back while assembling an IKEA desk. Boddice nodded, then said, "Let me ask you again. What did it feel like for him?"