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Romashka comments on Open Thread, Apr. 13 - Apr. 19, 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion
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This is a fantastic and important point.
Freedom of expression comes with a cost. I can't remember a single sober or just less weird person who has tried to start a conversation when I was abroad being weird. I don't like it - think Sam meeting Strider.
Wearing Vibriams is a good way to encourage strangers to start talking to you.
Or any interesting piece of clothing; people are often choosing who they approach based on their look
Of course other pieces of clothing can also encourage people to approach but Vibriams offer the other person a conversation starter in way that most other pieces of clothing don't.
Or at least I don't know of another piece of clothing that has a similar effect.
For me, the most responses came from a cheap khaki blazer of all things. The highest responses I've ever seen among my friends were from a backpack with juggling clubs sticking out the back.
I do understand how juggling clubs can lead to a conversation. What kind of responses does a khaki blazer produce?
They wouldn't directly comment on it unless they knew me, but just a general impression my friends and I got. One friend jokingly tried to take it off of me so he could wear it himself after he saw two hot girls strike up a conversation with me just by me ordering a drink while standing next to them. It was a few years before guys overdressing became the "in" thing at night clubs, so it was probably because I was trendsetting.
I think there are two different things:
1) Wearing an item to signal that you are a person worth talking to.
2) Wearing an item that makes it easy for someone to talk to you because it gives them a conversation starter.
At a night club I can see how a trendy khaki blazer encourages people to talk to you. I however don't see how it will encourage a person to talk to you while you ride the tram or are otherwise in a situation where talking to strangers isn't standard behavior.