SHOUTING and whispering
Journeying across the TV schedules in the last few days, I feel like Gulliver.
On Thursday I was at "Masterchef HQ" (Masterchef BBC1) for the series final, a place where inhabitants shout their conversations. "I THOUGHT THE PORK WAS A BIT UNDERDONE!!!"
Yesterday, I found myself in Candleford (Lark Rise to Candleford BBC1) where locals barely trouble their vocal chords, conducting even the most mundane communication in a breathy whisper.
Different communities, societies and cultures do have the volume set differently. The study of "proxemics" measures how far apart people like to be when conducting different kinds of conversation. The term was coined by American anthropologist Edward T. Hall who found anything below 1.5 feet is deemed intimate space for Americans.
In Latin cultures, however, people tend to be more comfortable standing closer to each other. In Nordic cultures, the opposite is true. The result is that Peruvians will tend to chase Norwegians around a room, the Scandinavian backing away until pinned to a wall.
When people get the local volume-proximity rules wrong, it can get others hot under the collar.
My reaction to the two Masterchef presenters bellowing at each other apparently only inches apart is mild amusement. But in the real world, people talking too loudly - on a mobile phone, for example - can threaten public order.
The classic example of that irritating passenger shouting into their mobile on a train is really the consequence of a conflict between two different communication environments.
The phone user sets speaking volume in relation to a perceived distance between them and the person on the other end of the line. However, other passengers see the conversation in terms of the proximity of people on the train.
Occasionally, this situation can get out of hand. In the United States in 2004, a pregnant woman was apparently knocked to the ground, handcuffed and arrested at a Washington DC metro station for talking too loudly on her cellphone.
The joy of using mobiles on a plane is now available on some airlines. Expect "I AM JUST PASSING OVER CROYDON NOW!!!" followed by loud tutting at 35,000 feet.
There are others who find whispering equally unacceptable. Those advertisements that breathe at us about how utterly orgasmic a chocolate pudding tastes employ a tone of intimacy that I would normally reserve for my closest friends and family. There is something presumptuous about the confidential delivery, I think - a bit like an Ecuadorean furniture rep at an Ikea conference, perhaps.
I'm 
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Hi Mark
Interesting - the economist Thomas Schelling investigated some of the dynamics that arise in societies where people's preferences are not entirely compatible.
The traditional way of addressing this in classical economics is to put a price on the "externality" - that is, the effects of your choices on a third party. But of course in many situations it's completely impractical to put a price on this, charge it and transfer the money. Though I could imagine Ryanair trying to do it!
Schelling's work (for which he won a Nobel Prize) investigates lots of interesting effects including how racial segregation arises in cities, and whether a restaurant's popularity will become self-reinforcing or self-defeating over time.
I have written an item about it on my (economics-focused) blog which points to some very interesting applications:
http://www.knowingandmaking.com/2009/03/thermodynamics-of-humanity.html
(and a previous item touching on Schelling's work: http://www.knowingandmaking.com/2008/06/tim-harfords-post-pointing-to-some-work.html )
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Here in New Zealand the differences between town and rural are quite stark.
In Auckland anything closer than half a metre would be considered too close. But I have a uncle who is the stereotypical sheepfarmer and if you go within about 3m of him then you are getting intimate! When his friends come around they sit on the far ends of the deck and shout at each other!
So the differences can be stark within countries as well!
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I spend a lot of time in Russia, the local people there have a tendency to shout on the telephone and they can be heard from twenty thirty meters away. It can be frustrating. Makes no difference if they are in an office or outside, shouting is the way. I have noticed though that it is typically the older generation who are guilty of it more than the younger people. I asked a person once 'why do they shout on the phone' and I was amazed at the reply she give me. She basically said it was a hang up from the days of Joe Stalin who as we all know was a paranoia sufferer. If you were whispering in his presence you could easily get a knock or your door at 3 AM in the morning never to be seen again. It went through Russian society very quickly and that is why she said people shout on the phone. Very Interesting I thought
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