Sunday, April 8, 2012

New York City

I moved to New York City about 3 years ago and i've since noticed that, amongst people you meet, there seems to be a general sense of self centred-ness. I know this is the stereotype for New Yorkers - fast talking, no bullshit, opportunistic survivalists. I don't like stereotypes, so i tried very hard to disprove it for myself. However, after these 3 years, i have to say that the stereotype is fairly accurate in general. I do realise that there some lovely New Yorkers who will go out of their way to help you, but the "me-first" attitude is still very common.

I was wondering why this is, and i was reminded of a wounded animal. A wounded animal can growl and snap at anyone who comes near, out of a basic instinct for survival. I thought, perhaps, the chaos, noise and immensity of this city is threatening to us humans, on a subconscious level. Maybe the selfish New Yorker stereotype is a kind of survival instinct. Maybe we're all just wounded animals walking around with our defenses up.

On the other hand, maybe New York is more like the Amazon: a vast and complex eco system, highly dangerous for anyone who doesn't know their place, where a naive newcomer can easily be eaten, poisoned, or go hungry.

9 comments:

  1. Interesting, i think the same about my city. When you go out of your way and try to help someone, you can get hurt(scams, robbers etc.) in such cities. It's probably a survival instinct.

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    1. It's true, and there are just so many people asking for help. I guess we get desensitised.

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  2. Probably does, because New York is like a zoo filled with different kinds of people. Its probably just more populated with those kinds of people.

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  3. I know, I always get overwhelmed by the same feelings when I visit cities. The rush. The noisy surroundings. Peoples lack of time and mindfulness. I think you'll never get fully adapted to the environment if you're born in the countryside. Maybe that's a good thing, though.

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  4. Never thought about it in that way, interesting perspective

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  5. new york is crazy!! but with a population that vast you are bound to encounter a mix of all personality

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  6. I'd say its more like the amazon

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  7. Yep. I've never been to a city even close in size to NY. However I live in a capital city of my country and I can also see the correlation between density of population : distress.

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