Cole_2.3_NI

The reading mentions abstract concepts getting their power from the connections that language provides. For example, "friendship" would have no significance if people did not associate positive actions with it. There is no doubt that "friendship" has a positive connotation, but why is this? In my experience, friends are far crueler to friends that strangers are to strangers. In an effort to make a good first impression, a man might help an elder across the street, whereas he might leave an acquaintance in the dust. Friends are comfortable enough with one another to be hurtful without damaging their relationship, but strangers do not have that comfort level and do not typically run into such problems. So my main question is this: despite the neutral implications behind the word "strangers," is it a preferable relationship to "friends?"