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How to Talk to People: How to Know Your Neighbors

How to Age Up

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Civil Inattention: Acknowledging Strangers Without Engaging

There was a sociologist named Irving Goughman who coined the term 'civil inattention'./nCivil inattention refers to the default polite posture towards strangers in public./nIt involves acknowledging someone's existence and then completely withdrawing attention./nOne example of civil inattention is when both individuals in a bathroom briefly make eye contact in the mirror and then focus on washing their hands.

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