Originally Posted by tandempower

If you find public interaction with strangers awkward and uncomfortable, driving may be preferable to biking/walking, because it involves less threat of lingering interaction. You don't have to spend as long pretending to ignore passersby while actually being focused on waiting for the moment they are past so that you can stop avoiding looking in their direction.

Originally Posted by Dahon.Steve

Working in New York City my entire life, the only people making interaction with strangers are usually the homeless asking for money! LOL. NYC is a very lonely place to be if you have no friends or family.

In general, unless you go out of your way to make interaction, it's highly unlikely people will approach you. If you're a woman, it might be different depending on what you're wearing.

Having said that, I suspect living in the middle of no where may very well invite more conversation. Simply because a town with a population of 200 hundred might view a complete stranger as a conversation piece since there is very little going on.

Originally Posted by tandempower

This wishing to be perceived and understood by others probably has something to do with why many people don't value interactions with animals and non-living things the way they do human-human interactions. If you are walking through a forest with trees and the trees are shading you and providing plenty of clean air and water and scenery for you to look at, you could simply appreciate the living ecology around you as expressing its energy while you also express yours. All that intersecting energy can be considered like a symphony of sounds waves, light, aromas, forms, etc.; but if you narrow your standard of interaction to verbal human-human interactions, then the rest just seems like background scenery that's not interesting to interact with

Originally Posted by tandempower

Sometimes hormones, I think. Sometimes other combinations of factors. I agree with you about the complexity, but there is a level of accuracy that is looser than what you are talking about, without being totally inaccurate. You know that artificial hormones are used to raise cattle sometimes, so it is possible to consider the influence that could have on their behavior. You can also guess that some cows might be more interested and/or afraid of humans because of experiences they've had. So it's not an exact art, but there's a certain science to contemplating about what might influence behavior and how.

Originally Posted by Walter S

Contemplate all you want. But you're not figuring out anything. It's not science unless you can do experiments and draw sound conclusions based on the evidence as relates to your hypothesis. I make this point because it touches on your famous Critical Thinking where you skip the critical steps in the process.

What you do is not Critical Thinking - it's called Day Dreaming. That's really fine. There's nothing at all with wrong with Day Dreaming. But it's not science or truth etc.

Originally Posted by Machka

Do you have lots of trees where you live ... or not?


I'm getting the impression that trees are somewhat rare and unusual where you are.

Originally Posted by Walter S

Contemplate all you want. But you're not figuring out anything. It's not science unless you can do experiments and draw sound conclusions based on the evidence as relates to your hypothesis. I make this point because it touches on your famous Critical Thinking where you skip the critical steps in the process.

What you do is not Critical Thinking - it's called Day Dreaming. That's really fine. There's nothing at all with wrong with Day Dreaming. But it's not science or truth etc.

Originally Posted by tandempower

Why, because you only value the presence of things that are rare, and take-for-granted what's abundant?

Originally Posted by Machka

No ... because I'm wondering if you, perhaps, over-value the presence of things you perceive as rare.

Do you have lots of trees where you are ... or not? I find your ongoing comments of trees puzzling ... as though you don't experience trees very often.

Originally Posted by tandempower

I value living things, especially when they don't bite, sting, or otherwise threaten me in some way. Trees are really special living things because they live so long and get so big. They are the basis for so many ecological functions involving water, light/energy, and air. You seem to view trees and everything else like aesthetic decorations that don't do anything beyond the way they look. Do you take trees and plants for granted or do you experience them as providing the oxygen, shade, water, etc. you breath, drink, and that provides comfort and protection in various ways?

Originally Posted by Machka

I haven't said anything that would indicate I think of trees and everything else as "aesthetic decorations that don't do anything beyond the way they look".

But the question is ... do you have lots of trees in your area ... or not?

Originally Posted by tandempower

Do you work for some kind of information-gathering firm?

Originally Posted by Machka

Yes!

Originally Posted by tandempower

Why is that funny? Don't use me for your work, please. I have no idea what you gather information for and it's big-brotherish to use people for information without telling them how the information is going to be used.

Originally Posted by Machka

I'm just wondering if your fascination with trees stems (haha) from the fact that you are not familiar with trees.

Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike

This thread takes the tree hugging meme to whole new level; relationship to living car free = none.

Originally Posted by tandempower

Why is that funny?

Originally Posted by Walter S

Because your paranoia and self importance is over the top.

Originally Posted by tandempower

I really don't know all the reasons people gather information, but I can imagine lots. E.g. someone could be testing software that predicts information based on existing information, so if Machka was using BF to test such software, she might ask such questions as part of her software-testing protocols. I'm not contending that she is doing that, but it's not unreasonable to consider that it could be someone's job.

Originally Posted by Walter S

Because your paranoia and self importance is over the top.



She already hacked your account and her U.S. liaisons will soon be surrounding you.

You think Machka works for a company that cares whether you personally live close to trees? That must be the reason for her other questions about you huh? She's an information sponge gathering these important facts like "there's this dude on BF called tandempower that says he lives near trees". I'm sure you can illuminate the economic riches that knowledge like that generates and how it dwarfs the cost of employing people like Machka to gather such nuggets as compared to simply buying statistics compiled from satellite imagery.

Originally Posted by Mobile 155

I also was wondering about what this has to do with Living car free or even car light.