all of my buddies are vetted

@ponderable said
I directed that to the people who gave the thumbs not to you.

Well, you said it to me and you made yourself look silly in my eyes. Why do you want other people to know what you think of the thumbs on this thread?

@fmf said
And yet, a close friendship can make one tolerant of clashing values and even immune to breaches of trust. I wonder whether some personal bonds have a chicken-or-the-egg question at their very core.

There is a theory out; that every person has a central value, which supersedes all other values the person has if it comes to a conflict.
Maybe the point in friendship is even if one or a few values are not aligned, it can be sustained if the central values coincide?

@ponderable said
I directed that to the people who gave the thumbs not to you.

You are welcome anyway to appreciate that 😉

Well you didn’t actually direct your comment to the people who gave the thumbs because you don’t know who they are because they are “anonymous”.

@ponderable said
There is a theory out; that every person has a central value, which supersedes all other values the person has if it comes to a conflict.
Maybe the point in friendship is even if one or a few values are not aligned, it can be sustained if the central values coincide?

I am not sure. I think shared experiences or overlapping lives can sometimes make people close even if core values are not aligned.

I also think there can sometimes be a literally inexplicable love at the core of a friendship that can withstand clashing values.

@fmf said
It's not clear to me what the term "buddy" refers to. Close friends? Less-than-close-but-nevertheless-solidly-friendly friends? Friendly acquaintances?

It's not clear to me what the term 'three' refers to. Less than four but nevertheless more than two? Or two solidly friendly friends and two acquaintances who together add up to one solid friendly friend. I think we should be told.

@fmf said
And yet, a close friendship can make one tolerant of clashing values and even immune to breaches of trust. I wonder whether some personal bonds have a chicken-or-the-egg question at their very core.

Values, social background, trust and tolerance of ones' differences, I would say. My longest friendship is a woman I know since childhood. We don't share any interests now and if we met today for the first time, we wouldn't connect. But we bonded when very young and that stays.

@the-gravedigger said
It's not clear to me what the term 'three' refers to. Less than four but nevertheless more than two? Or two solidly friendly friends and two acquaintances who together add up to one solid friendly friend. I think we should be told.

Be that it as it may, in your case, but I don't think the word "three" causes me to ponder its meaning as much as the word "buddy" does.

@fmf said
Be that it as it may, in your case, but I don't think the word "three" causes me to ponder its meaning as much as the word "buddy" does.

I agree that it doesn't have the ambiguity but I thought I would throw it into the pot.

@the-gravedigger said
I agree that it doesn't have the ambiguity but I thought I would throw it into the pot.

You have used the word "it" TWICE in the same sentence; do they refer to different things?

@fmf said
You have used the word "it" TWICE in the same sentence; do they refer to different things?

Your post that I replied to used the words 'it' and 'its' so I presumed you were familiar with its (sic) meaning.

@the-gravedigger said
Your post that I replied to used the words 'it' and 'its' so I presumed you were familiar with its (sic) meaning.

What exactly does it mean when YOU say that you "presumed" something? Are you merely using the word to soften the admission that you might have been mistaken?

@the-gravedigger said
I presumed you were familiar with its (sic) meaning.

its (sic) meaning

Does "sic" here refer to an error by you or an error by me?

@fmf said
What exactly does it mean when YOU say that you "presumed" something? Are you merely using the word to soften the admission that you might have been mistaken?

Yes

@fmf said
its (sic) meaning

Does "sic" here refer to an error by you or an error by me?

Used to show that the word may appear wrong but it is what I intended.

@the-gravedigger said
Used to show that the word may appear wrong but it is what I intended.

In this particular instance, how do you define "wrong"?