Hacker News Reader

I read somewhere that the average city dweller encounters more people in a week than the average medieval person did in their entire life.

I wonder to what extent human psychology is prepared to cope with such relationship overload after 10s of millenia in small communities.

View on HN

Try to get eye contact in London, and you see how human psychology is coping.

It is quite fascinating to get on trains out of London. With each stop out, the atmosphere loosens up, and the chance of someone talking to you (!) or giving eye contact increases.

I've always heard London to be unfriendly, but when I visited and asked multiple people for directions they were pretty damn accommodating. Maybe I just got lucky, but in the city I previously lived in (Copenhagen) you felt like you were intruding on somebody's day whenever you interrupted them in public.

I will always help with directions if I can, as I think most people in London would. When I used to lock my bicycle outside I'd get asked about twice a month — someone locking a bicycle is probably local.

What I don't want is irrelevant conversation. I've spent the day at work, the train home is a chance for a break and a rest.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com