3. Since our cultural rules are experienced
as the way to live, to survive, to be,
the cultural behavior of the “other” is experienced
as upsetting of our culture,
as weakening it,
or coarsening it,
and, potentially, as threatening its survival.
And we react.

4. Loose and Tight
Sometimes we react reflexively
to the cultural behavior of the “other.”
At times we go Loose.
We reflexively allow the behavior of the “others,”
not because we love the “others” or respect them or value their behavior,
but because our reflexive Looseness allows us to avoid the discomfort
of dealing with the complexity raised by their presence.

At times we go Tight.
We reflexively reject the behavior of the “other,”
we judge it negatively, dismiss it, afford it no legitimate place in our culture.
Our reflexive dismissal again allows us to avoid the discomfort
of dealing with the complexity raised by the “other’s” presence.

5. Loose and Tight appear in conflict with one another,
yet both arise out of the same condition:
discomfort in responding to the encounter with the “other”.