BBC: Why do cities make us rude?

Do you know, Catherine, someone actually talked to me on the underground this morning!

No, really?

Yeah. 

Wow! I should perhaps point out that talking to someone you don't know on the Tube is quite unusual behaviour in London! So, Neil, what did they say?

Well, they said what a lovely day it was, great to see the sun shining in London- something along those lines. But it was actually nice to chat instead of sitting there with a frown on my face, fiddling with my phone. 

Which is what you probably always do to pass the time on public transport, Neil. 

Yes, it is- me and thousands of others. But it got me thinking--- if it makes me feel better to talk to people on the way to work, why don't I - and other commuters in the city- do it more often?

Well, that's a good question, Neil, and maybe we'll find some answers in the show, because today we're talking about why cities make us so rude. And I have a question for you: when we have a positive interaction with somebody, our body releases a chemical. But what's the name of this chemical? Is it...

a) melatonin   b) oxytocin  or c) thyroxin?

I don't know, but I'm going to say a) melatonin. 

Well, we'll see if you were right or not later on in the show. But did you know, Neil, that an organization called 'Talk to me London' has created these 'Tubechat' badges that you can wear to show that you're happy to talk to a stranger. Maybe you should get one!

Yeah, maybe I should. But the thing is, people in big cities are often scared to start a conversation with a stranger because, well, you don't know what might happen. 

That's ture. Now, let's listen to Dr Elle Boag, a social psychologist at Birmingham City Universtiy here in the UK. She agrees that people can view cities as threatening places. 

When we step off the metro or onto a crowded city street our brain becomes hyper vigilant to the perception of threats around us- we're just one small person in a very large set of other people, in a large body of people. This then leads to behaviours that are insular and defensive. We're persistently looking for potential threats around us, and this then makes us not give eye contact, this will reduce the likelihood that anybody will say hello. It's a protective mechanism by which we can survive our journey to whence we're going, which makes us all sound really really rude to one other. 

Dr Elle Boag there. And hyper vigilance means being extremely watchful of what's going on around you. People can behave unpredictably, and like Dr Boag says, you're just one person in a crowd of others and you just don't know who might be dangerous. 

Yeah, I see what you mean. And the fact we are constantly on the lookout for potential threats, well, it affects our behaviour. 

That's right. And as a protective mechanism we avoid speaking to or making eye contact with other people. So we become insular which means inward looking. 

It sounds awful! But actually, I know people who moved to London in order to be anonymous- to blend in with the crowd- and not have to talk to people!

Well, if you grow up in a small town, it can feel claustrophobic- which means not having enough space to feel comfortable. You know, you can't do anything without the whole community knowing about it. You may have nosey neighbours. 

And a nosey person shows too much interest in other people's business.