critical distances
when does distance make a difference?
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one / two
01How many of us were there? Oh, I was never able to figure that out, not even approximately. To make a count, we would have had to move apart, at least a little, and instead we all occupied that same point.
All at One Point – Italo Calvino
How do we decide what counts as one thing?
From across the room, the crowd looks like one moving shape. As you come closer, you can make out separate faces and gaps between people.
You might count individual people to put out enough chairs, then groups when arranging the tables. Same room—different means of counting.
2.6 mm / 30.7–45.4 mm
To be felt as two separate contacts, two points needed a mean separation of 2.6 mm on tested fingertips and 30.7–45.4 mm at arm and forearm sites. Results from one study of young adults; individual thresholds varied. [1]
one colony / many zooids
A Portuguese man o’ war consists of attached units called zooids. Different zooids capture prey, feed, or reproduce; the colony depends on these parts working together. [2]
one cell / many nuclei
In its plasmodial stage, the slime mould Physarum polycephalum is one branching cell. Its nuclei divide without the cell dividing, so many nuclei share the same cytoplasm. [3]
sources
[1] Nolan (1982), doi:10.1093/ptj/62.7.965.
[2] NOAA, “Portuguese Man o’ War.”
[3] Gerber et al., eLife (2022), doi:10.7554/eLife.69745.
here / there
Even in Kyoto —hearing the cuckoo’s cry —I long for Kyoto.
Matsuo Bashō
京にても京なつかしやほととぎす
What affects where we think something is?
You walk inside and turn sideways to get around your dining room table. Then you notice that it has been moved away from the entrance.
Later, on the way out, you try it without turning your shoulders. The position of the table still lingers in your muscle memory.
12 cm / 5.4–7.5 cm
In a 13-person study, brushes were moved along the forearm, with a covered section interrupting skin contact. Stopping 12 cm apart was perceived as only 5.4–7.5 cm. Slower brushing increased difference between physical and perceived distance. [4]
8° apart / ventriloquist effect
When presented with light and sound simultaneously, 8° apart, most listeners heard the sound almost at the light’s location: shifted 6–7° from its actual source. A single pairing lasting just 50 milliseconds could produce the illusion. [5]
sources
[4] Nguyen et al., Journal of Neurophysiology (2016), doi:10.1152/jn.00707.2015.
[5] Bosen et al., Experimental Brain Research (2017), doi:10.1007/s00221-016-4820-4.
together / apart
“Where are you going to-day?”says Pooh: “Well, that’s very odd’cos I was too. Let’s go together,”says Pooh, says he.
Us Two – A.A. Milne
How do we use distance and timing to respond to one another?
You start walking beside someone who takes longer strides. You speed up; they slow down when you begin to fall behind.
At a corner, you ask which way to go. They look down the street before answering, and you wait. When you start again, you both adjust your pace to stay beside each other.
≈0.2 s / switching turns
Across a ten-language study, the average gap from the end of a yes-or-no question to the start of a response was about 0.2 seconds. Responses included speech and gesture. [6]
600 ms / interpreting a pause
In a study of 28 German listeners, longer pauses before “yes” made a speaker seem less willing to comply with a request. The effect was stronger above 600 milliseconds. [7]
42 countries / 8,943 people
Participants marked how far away they wanted a stranger, acquaintance, or close person to stand. Preferred distances varied across countries. These were stated preferences on a diagram. [8]
making a seat available
On a train, moving a bag off an empty seat makes room for another passenger. The gesture can invite them to sit before either person speaks.
sources
[6] Stivers et al., PNAS (2009), doi:10.1073/pnas.0903616106.
[7] Kohtz & Niebuhr, Interspeech (2017), doi:10.21437/Interspeech.2017-50.
[8] Sorokowska et al., Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (2017), doi:10.1177/0022022117698039.