Rare and brief city encounters push people to stylize themselves as sharply individualized

Evidence

In the same sense there operates an apparently insignificant factor which in its effects however is perceptibly cumulative, namely, the brevity and rarity of meetings which are allotted to each individual as compared with social intercourse in a small city. For here we find the attempt to appear to-the-point, clear-cut and individual with extraordinarily greater frequency than where frequent and long association assures to each person an unambiguous conception of the other’s personality. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 759

Categorization

• XREF: Brevity and rarity of metropolitan meetings maps onto Lofland’s stranger-categorization: with no long association to reveal personality, residents read one another through immediate type-signals. — connects to: Preindustrial urbanites signaled their identity through visible costuming; Industrial urbanization destroyed appearance as a reliable clue to strangers’ identities; Urban identity games range from high-stakes passing to low-stakes pretending (+9 more)

Related

• Urban life is possible because strangers remain categorically identifiable (similarity 0.81)
• Prescriptive etiquette shifted to making the urban individual inconspicuous. (similarity 0.79)
• Individualization loosens ties with the near to enable ties with the distant (similarity 0.79)
• Urban identity games range from high-stakes passing to low-stakes pretending (similarity 0.79)
• Strangers are perceived by type rather than as individuals (similarity 0.78)
• Living surrounded by strangers is a peculiar condition requiring explanation (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Urban identity games range from high-stakes passing to low-stakes pretending #expands (0.60)
• Extreme individualist critiques flourish precisely because cities breed them #corroborates (0.55) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 760
• Prescriptive etiquette shifted to making the urban individual inconspicuous. #contradicts (0.55)
• Larger social circles expand possibilities for developing unique inner lives. #expands (0.55) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 655
• Preindustrial urbanites signaled their identity through visible costuming #corroborates (0.50)
• Strangers are perceived by type rather than as individuals #contradicts (0.50) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 401
• Individuality increases as the social circle expands #corroborates (0.50) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 591
• Conforming to dress conventions creates a sense of belonging in social settings. #complicates (0.45) — Hamlin Garland Munseys, A Daughter of the Middle Border, 462
• Industrial urbanization destroyed appearance as a reliable clue to strangers’ identities #qualifies (0.40)
• City dwellers learn locations verbally but lack words to describe people #qualifies (0.35)