The Connected Species by Mark A. Williams

Author:Mark A. Williams [Williams, Mark A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-17T00:00:00+00:00

TIP OF THE CHAPTER

Nothing compares to connecting in real life with friends and loved ones. Organize regular catch-ups with those who are important to you.

• 10 •

A Crowded Room

As I mentioned earlier, I grew up in a small country town in Australia. Our home was only a couple of streets from farmland. We often went into the forest, picking blackberries and mushrooms. It was anything but overcrowded. I remember vividly when I was young and my mother took me and my siblings to visit her half sister in Melbourne. That night my mother took my sisters out for dinner and a movie, and my younger brother and I stayed with my aunt. She lived in an apartment block. There were no apartment blocks where I lived, and my memory of the evening is of feeling very cramped and scared. I was sure that someone would break in and hurt us. I could hear traffic outside and people in other apartments. It terrified me, and I still remember the sense of anxiety and dread.

Why did I feel that sense of dread? One reason was simply exposure. I had never been to a large city before, and the sheer size was overwhelming. However, there is more to it than that. When I worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I used to love going to New York City on the Chinatown bus for the weekend. It was always great fun and quite a buzz, but it wasn’t relaxing. When I want to relax, when I want a break, I go to places that are quiet and don’t feel crowded. It is an interesting juxtaposition that we are the connected species, and we love to be around our in-group—and yet we need time alone too. We get joy out of connecting and socializing, but there is a limit to the amount of socializing or the size of the group that feels safe.

It turns out, there is good evidence that there is a limit to the density of groups in which we find comfort. Although we suffer when we are isolated or alone, we also suffer when we feel overcrowded. Overcrowding causes a range of mental and physical illnesses in both humans and other social species. And overcrowding in humans usually happens in urban environments that are uniquely different from the natural environments in which we evolved. Urban environments add to our discomfort as they put stress and strain on our perceptual system. These overall feelings of distress result in higher levels of anxiety and increased vigilance. Parents are often more cautious with their children, resulting in restricted opportunities for free play, which is essential for children to learn important social skills. And with the increased number of faces in crowded urban environments, our automatic face and facial expression perception is in overdrive, adding to our anxiety. There is a limit to our drive to connect and the size of the cities that we feel comfortable living in.

In fact, when populations become too crowded or dense, there is a negative impact on society.

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