4 ms·
I have an anecdote about this that I thought was really profound at the time and still think is pretty interesting. I was travelling once in Europe on a train
by nibs 10y ago
I have an anecdote about this that I thought was really profound at the time and still think is pretty interesting.
I was travelling once in Europe on a train that had all different levels of seating "class". There were sectioned private cars, business class cars and economy class cars.
My friend's Dad is German and found a hook-up for private car service. We were backpacking at the time so this was strange but we enjoyed it. So we were seated at the front, and then business class, and then economy class, and then the food car.
I got up to walk to get some food, passing through each section. In business class, all varieties of people were represented. You could call that diversity. Same in economy.
Except for one thing. Every single person I walked by in business class was either reading or working. Nearly every single person I walked by in economy class was playing games or watching TV. Over 90% followed this pattern.
I know there are all kinds of caveats and nuances that make this very non-scientific, but I was surprised by the consistency. Business class riders were educating themselves, where economy class riders were entertaining themselves.
I do believe that knowledge compounds, and I am always surprised by how much I learn that I don't know.