Week 3: Civil inattention

Week 3, Goffman's interaction order, civil inattention, and the tie- signs that break it

8 March 2027

Outline#

• Goffman’s interaction order: the rules public space runs on, unstated and almost never taught directly
• civil inattention as the default courtesy between strangers, and tie-signs as the signals that say “we’re not strangers, don’t extend it to us”
• the phone-while-walking case: attention as a resource you can withdraw from the room without anyone consenting to that
• setting up Week 4: from noticing distance to measuring it