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Aversion

Civilization is the encouragement of differences.

MAHATMA GANDHI

Let's go back to my walk to the bus stop with our daughter Carly and a moment in time when my aversion to strangers, disguised as fatherly instinct, got the better of me. After all, most of us have been conditioned to believe that strangers are dangerous—through books, movies, the media, the cautionary guidance of family and friends, and even our own humanity. Maybe we're simply wired to fear or avoid strangers through some combination of nurture and nature. We even have a phrase, “stranger danger,” that is part of our collective vocabulary and highlights the reality that ...

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