Proof that humans are valuable

An enterprising village in Spain in seeking World Heritage status for its centuries-old tradition of ‘charla al fresco’, or chatting outdoors.

The tiny village of Algar’s evening ritual is being threatened by the rise of social media.

So the local mayor has applied to Unesco to have the custom added to its list of intangible cultural heritage, along with Neapolitan pizza making, and Irish harp playing.

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He says its tradition is the ‘opposite of social media’ and good for mental health.

On the one hand 😱: What have we come to when we have to preserve evening chats?

But on the other hand 🤗: What a great move to formally highlight the preciousness of real social interaction, the good it does, and the fact that it can’t be replaced with a button or a screen.

It puts me in the mind of those human libraries where you can check people out instead of books. In places like Denmark, you can ‘borrow’ a human who has stories to share that you wouldn’t normally have access to.

Sounds vaguely dystopian, but also quite nice. As long as they don’t smell.