The idea of social distance isn't new at all.
Interpersonal space, or interpersonal distance, is an essential feature of individuals’ social behav- ior in relation to their physical environment and social interactions (Hall, 1966; Hayduk, 1983). It is a distance we maintain in interpersonal interactions, or in other words, “breathing space,” an abstract area that surrounds each individual (Hall, 1966; Madanipour, 2003; Sommer, 1969), comparable with either a shell, a soap bubble, or aura (Sommer, 1969). According to Hall (1966), this space helps regulate intimacy in social situations by controlling sensory exposure. The pos- sibility of increased visual, tactile, auditory, and olfactory stimulation is enhanced at closer dis- tances, and people may feel intruded and react negatively when others adopt and maintain too close of an interpersonal distance (Felipe & Sommer, 1966; Hall, 1966; Mazur, 1977; Sawada, 2003; Smith, 1981; Sommer, 1969).And it varies from culture to culture. In Thailand people greet each other by 'waiing" - hands together and bowing. How far you bow depends on the status of the person you are greeting.
Classifying Social Distance
The classical proxemic theory (Hall, 1966) classifies interpersonal distance into four categories, each of which reflects a different relationship between individuals (Baldassare & Feller, 1975). These four types of distance are (a) public distance (above 210 cm; in this distance, voice shifts to higher volumes, and eye contact is minimized); (b) social distance, maintained during more formal interactions (122-210 cm, this distance precludes all but visual and auditory stimuli); (c) personal distance, maintained during interactions with friends (about 46-122 cm, vision is no longer blurred, vocalizations increase); and (d) intimate distance, maintained in close relation- ships (from 0 to 46 cm, this distance is characterized by poor and blurred vision, and increased perception of heat and olfactory stimuli; Hall, 1966).
In Germany there is the hearty handshake, and in France, kisses on the cheek.
But with the Coronavirus the world is taking on a more homogenous standard for social distancing and I thought I'd offer some thoughts on how to achieve this through what people wear.
The most obvious:
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| From Zenith City |
A little more aggressive is the social distancing hula hoop. Here's an initial sketch:
In places where there are aggressive anti-social distancing folks, there could be a dog fence version where people crossing into your personal space would get a shock. But if that's not good enough, there's always razor wire.
And then I see all this stuff about the pressing need for haircuts. As someone with more skin than hair on my scalp, I can't get too sympathetic. My wife has been cutting my hair for decades. But I understand that hair has great meaning for many people. I hope that everyone can find internal resources to deal with the pandemic as well as possible. Particularly those whose resources are scarce. We need better mechanisms to be able to help each other through this.
