Stephen T Asma

The responses to my article have been wonderful to read. I especially appreciate the way people are forwarding paragons of improvisational thinking, like theater practitioners, military soldiers, medical improvisors and of course musicians. I share a funny story here –it ends with me standing in my underwear in a crowded store in China.

Recently, when I was living in Shanghai, I went to a chain superstore to buy a new watch. The superstore was an enormous hangar-sized structure and when I found a watch I liked, the nearby salesperson was not authorized to help me so she ran to get someone else. He arrived with a walkie-talkie and seemed like he would get things done. I pointed out ...

Thank you for the interesting comments and feedback on my article. It’s early still so I suspect there will be similarly provocative perspective to come. I’ll make a few brief remarks now and try to circle back later for more conversation.

I think NT is right, in the sense that this psychological dynamic is observable in school yard interactions. Of course bullying and revenge are as old as school itself, but is there something new going on? –I mean besides the obvious ready availability of guns in the U.S. (which is –as several have pointed out –a crucial root cause/condition of current violence. I live in Chicago. I get it.). But is there a new level of self-repression that allow...