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Prismattic comments on Using Evolution for Marriage or Sex - Less Wrong
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Hmm, that's an interesting observation. I've hear people from elsewhere say that something about New Englanders makes us seem "cold" and I wonder if this is the cause.
It's far more than eye contact. I'm a New Englander who moved to Virginia, I get totally creeped out by people with whom I'm trying to conduct activity of a purely transactional nature (e.g. a real estate agent showing a property) who act with a degree of familiarity that is only considered socially acceptable among actual social relations in New England. They probably think they're being friendly and I'm oddly cold in response; I think they come off sounding like con artists and need to back the f-ck off,
As another New Englander who moved away, I have a reaction very similar to Prismattic.
I also think of eye contact as aggressive, (and avoid making eye contact for that reason -- I expect to come across as creepy) but until five minutes ago I thought that was my personal brain damage, and had never considered that it might be a local-culture thing. I'm not sure if it's correct, but it's an interesting idea.
I heard about a study once that found lower rates of autism diagnosis in England than in most other places, and postulated that it was because English culture considers eccentricity more normal. (I can't vouch for this being true, since I never saw the actual paper, but it would be interesting if it was.) I wonder if New England would show the same pattern.