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I don't think "privacy" is the right word to describe the lack of communication you're experiencing. I can respect a culture where people's default mode is not
by tinalumfoil 10y ago
I don't think "privacy" is the right word to describe the lack of communication you're experiencing. I can respect a culture where people's default mode is not to socialize, especially as a more introverted American, but I don't see how your privacy in a public place can be anything other than zero.
- jpatokal 10y agoThere's a Finnish expression for this: you can see, but you do not look. For example, it's accepted that everybody in a sauna is naked, but you wouldn't go ogling at somebody's genitals -- even if they're the opposite sex. It's "wilful privacy", if you will: as long as everybody respects the privacy, everything stays private, even though it takes only one person to break the illusion.
- themartorana 10y ago"Look with your eyes, not with your hands" is also a popular saying in saunas. So I hear. I wouldn't know.
- tajen 10y ago"Touch with your eyes, not with your hands"? Or am I used to museums?
- Symbiote 10y agoAnother example: many Nordic people don't close the curtains, so everyone could see inside. But the shame is on the person looking, who is violating the expectation of privacy.
- kwhitefoot 10y agoLots of windows here, Norway, don't even have curtains that can be drawn all the way across.
- coldtea 10y ago>but I don't see how your privacy in a public place can be anything other than zero. Privacy is a spectrum, not a binary. Consider two women sitting on a park bench and people around minding their own business, and same two women sitting on a park bench with a few nearby men staring at them, making obvious gestures, etc.