For me it's like someone is pressing my solar plexus. It's weird it took us all so long to get over Descartes

Socrates agreed

But ... but I assume this is Fahrenheit?

Oxford. V close to London and amazing countryside running from the door.

Also Oxford? I run on the canal and river towpaths and often wonder whether I might breathe too deeply and fall in

Totally! Why do people even need to express not liking something? The desire to suck joy out of any room ...

The important thing about preferences is that you make everyone aware of them as loudly as possible

The idea of "settling" in an uninhabited country was very much trialled in medieval chronicles of foundation (in short: everywhere was empty until the cultured people from Troy arrived)

It didn't convince anyone then either

Yeah no none of mine have yet done this and if they did I would definitely feel the need to write only anodyne factual truths

It's not a free for all; it relies on the skill and attention of the bar staff, the idea being to create a social space rather than a mute queue. Works much better in (eg) Spain, where bar staff are seriously skilled and highly valued; they memorize the room and work in order of arrival, etc

But, like, your student had seen War Games? That makes me feel young