Libraries and museums block strangers’ attempts at conversation

Evidence

Between these two factors of nearness and distance, however, a peculiar tension arises, since the consciousness of having only the absolutely general in common has exactly the effect of putting a special emphasis on that which is not common. For a stranger to the country, the city, the race, and so on, what is stressed is again nothing individual, but alien origin, a quality which he has, or could have, in common with many other strangers. For this reason strangers are not really perceived as individuals, but as strangers of a certain type. Their remoteness is no less general than their nearness. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 401 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Strangers are perceived by type rather than as individuals — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 401; Seating distance from strangers encodes unspoken interaction signals with systematic rules; Others’ signaled openness governs whether one initiates talk

Related

• Opening talk with strangers fails in spaces governed by task-focused norms (similarity 0.83)
• The most urban-inept strangers can be the most warmly treated (similarity 0.82)
• Others’ signaled openness governs whether one initiates talk (similarity 0.81)
• Shared universal traits make the stranger simultaneously near and far (similarity 0.81)
• A stranger is someone personally unknown yet visually available (similarity 0.80)
• Seeing a handicap makes some strangers feel licensed to intrude (similarity 0.80)
• Stranger relations rest on general commonality, not specific differences (similarity 0.79)
• Social forms can be classified by the interpersonal distances they create (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Strangers are perceived by type rather than as individuals #expands (0.50) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 401
• Others’ signaled openness governs whether one initiates talk #corroborates (0.50)
• Seating distance from strangers encodes unspoken interaction signals with systematic rules #qualifies (0.30)