John Wentworth recently posted a discussion-inducing piece about how the willingness to be vulnerable is core to romantic relationships. This is not obvious to me as the core thing. I think romantic (and other) relationships are arguably about intimacy[1]. Perhaps intimacy always requires vulnerability? To answer that, and because it's generally interesting, here is a babble[2] of the kinds of intimacy:
Physical Intimacy
sexual intimacy[3]
non-sexual physical intimacy (cuddling, touch)
Intellectual Intimacy
the intimacy that results from the exchange and sharing of ideas and/or doing cognitive work together
intimacy that results from having the same knowledge or beliefs
think of the connection that arises from having read the same book as someone else
Emotional Intimacy
revealing emotional states to each other
sharing emotional states (getting in sync somehow, sharing of emotional stimuli)
Values Intimacy
we have an intimacy born out of knowing we [...]
The original text contained 4 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.
First published:
June 21st, 2025
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/2XFGR8NyjguohpjbH/the-sixteen-kinds-of-intimacy)
Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO).
