Ambient Interestingness

The interestingness you get passively in an urban village.

Venkatesh Rao: When I work in public areas, it is for the steady supply of low-intensity human contact. The mass of unremarkable humanity does not register, except as a pleasant backdrop. Pretty girls, babies, dogs and notably ugly people do register, leaving a gentle and piquant trail of unexamined visual flavor. I am not a true people watcher.

• 2021 thread

I get this in NYC

• coffee shops
• parks
• retail blocks with lots of pedestrians