Psychology
The Micro-Politics of Averted Gaze in Urban Public Transit
Quick fact
Urban transit riders avoid eye contact not because they're antisocial, but because they're following an unspoken social script that psychologist Erving Goffman called 'civil inattention'—a way of acknowledging others without engaging, which reduces anxiety and maintains order.
Why this is interesting
You're on a crowded bus, packed so tightly you can feel the warmth of a stranger... and yet no one seems to see anyone. How do hundreds of people manage to ignore each other so perfectly?