[Paddlewise] Ranting

From: Robert Livingston & Pam Martin <bearboat2_at_comcast.net>
Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 21:33:58 -0800
> Lots of times we would just pull
> up in front of some one's house, walk up to the front door, knock and tell
> them who we were and what we were doing and ask if it was OK to use thier
> beach. Rarely did anyone deny  permission. Often we would get offerings a
> slice of watermellon or some iced tea.

A a low density of people, interactions tend to be friendly - people WANT to
meet other people. This is one of the joys of traveling in desolate places
with few people.

At medium density people tolerate each other.

At high density, they spend some effort to distance themselves from others.

At very high density, they kill each other one way or another.

I have seen the west coast of Vancouver Island kayaking to show this pattern
in a microcosm. 

40 years ago it was fun and rare to run into another human.

This evolves into a polite try not to get into each other's face. Commonly
two groups on the same beach will simply ignore each other so as not not
invade another's space. You pretend they are not there.

The next step is to "claim" the beach in some fashion or another to make it
very uncomfortable for another group to come.

And finally, in some popular places, this has evolved into open hostility.

____


I do not understand those who want to further increase the population as if
a few empty spaces on the planet are an insult to our procreative abilities.
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Received on Thu Feb 03 2005 - 21:34:22 PST

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