IWCD192: Identity & Congenial Fellowship

Hey there,

First, the company I use to publish this newsletter (BeeHiiv), recently created a haiku about it on Twitter:

Second, I came across a concept known as “congenial fellowship” while talking with a cousin of mine who works at a bank.

She said she learned about this concept from indigenous Australians (Aborigines).

So I asked ChatGPT and Perplexity.ai about it. Here’s what it generated:

“Congenial fellowship is an important feature of Aboriginal social life in central Australia^[1][2]. It has been left largely unanalyzed by professional linguists, but is seen as a social imperative among Aborigines^[3][4]. Conversations are often directed towards achieving congenial fellowship^[3].”

But what I learned from my cousin, was that it’s more about helping groups start off at a level playing field. So instead of introducing yourself with your work-related titles, which almost always creates a sense of hierarchy between group members, you introduce yourself with: