AIBU to think that geography is not the big differentiator people think on here?

I know what you are getting at op. A distant in- law that I have to see at lots of family events starts a lot of things with 'well im from Yorkshire and we ....' then describes something really common across most places ive lived but makes out its a special unique view on stuff. My
friends mum is from Yorkshire and she does the exact same thing. Actually now ive typed tgar, Maybe there is a regional thing after all. That Yorkshire people like to tell you :)

But most people posting aren't bashing out an essay on the geosocial profile of their area. They're just remarking why they are leaving the door unlocked etc.

Our house in an urban area is less likely to be burgled because our front there's a busy road and out of the back they'd have to hop fences on all sides.

My parents' house is five miles from the nearest village, up some 30% inclines. Somes days even THEY can't get to their house, let alone a thief. People whose job it is to deliver things can't always get to the house and can't always find their way back (it's a private road with lots of gates).

It's really rather silly to say that the geography doesn't affect this.

The area I grew up is also a popular national park. That meant lots of visitors, a real boost to the local economy and also nightlife - you even get celebs in the local clubs who fancy a dance. That's a very different reality to someone who grew up in a small no mark village five miles from the next no mark village, fifteen miles from the market town and fifty miles from a city. It also affects who lives there - lots of locals in ordinary jobs, but also lots of relocators who came to live in a beautiful area. Much more affluent than your average rural area.

All of that is geography.

Oh, please have a read of Francis Pryor's The Making of the British Landscape: How We Have Transformed the Land, from Prehistory to Today!

Geography doesn't determine human development, humans develop the land to suit our purposes. He's a wonderful writer. He does have a lot to say about cultural practises and how they vary, over time and also by place.

Of course but the point the OP is making is that people often overstate the importance of these differences as if they were the only relevant factor.

She’s not saying they don’t exist or matter at all, only that they are overemphasised.

I think its important as well: we live in an increasingly polarised and fractured society at the moment, we should challenge assumptions that people are radically different from us purely because of where they grew up. We need to function as a community, telling people how different they are all the time doesn’t help.

God knows there is enough pressure on people to put up barriers to others at the moment, let’s at least interrogate whether the alleged difference is real or confected to make an argument.

Having lived the length and breadth of our nation i can assure Geography plays a huge part. If you have, say spent your life in the S.E of England you will not recognise much in N.W Sutherland and vice versa although in they will have more of a general idea as our media is very London centric. Locations affect outlooks.

Point is, a friendship group is more likely to exist in a smaller village setting, but there is also a “local gossip element”. If you are the only parent who drops and runs at a party and you refuse to socialise, the impact of this in a village is greater than if you are in a town. You will hear about it very quickly if you do something others deem problematic if you live in a village, than you will if you live in a town.

They are unlikely to list every differentiator though are they? That wouldn't be usual in casual conversation. I think you are reading far too much into the comments you are refering to. They are not meant as an in-depth review of the reason for the behavioural differences between different groups of people which are obviously affected by a multitude of factors. They are meant as a throw away comment (as you have identified yourself) and should be treated as such.

Maybe write a better op that talks about culture if you mean culture rather than geography?

Completely agree with you about the "othering", it's very frustrating.

The comment that "people are more wary and you’re less likely to make any friends" in cities is a classic of the genre.

I've lived in big cities, medium-sized towns and rurally and I find cities much easier to make friends in because in my experience people in cities are less likely to have been to school with everyone else, they are more open to people with different backgrounds and there is less intrusion.

But this is my subjective experience based in large part on my personality, I don't expect everyone to agree.

Geography can shape people but it's just as likely to be the other way around: ie people choose their location based on their personality.

The mum comment is absurd, the rest might have some substance

Who said it was the only differentiator though? It can be one factor of many.

But you are literally repeating it in response to every post disagreeing with you. Everybody else agrees that this is not a thing so it doesn't really show the "unspoken assumptions many people have" - it shows the very odd assumption that one single individual had.

Why are you so fixated on this throw away comment? People say odd things or things you don't agree with. It doesn't mean your proposition that geography never has anything to do with how people behave is correct

Also, I’ve never heard of Welsh people loving their mothers more than any other countries and I have a Welsh mum!!

As a geography teacher I am going to say you are wrong. Although, I agree the examples given are not really down yo geographical factors but more culture abd personal experience.

Climate, topography, economic opportunities, decline of traditional industries, regeneration, spatial patterns of urbanisation, deindustrialisation, declining tourism, transport networks will all influence human behaviour.

I’ve lived in quite a few different countries and geographical locations within countries and I do think that geography and culture play a big part. In London people tend not to dress up as much as other cities in the UK for example. Whether you get offered food and drink at someone’s house varies on geography and culture. I’ve noticed strangers speak to you more on public transport in more rural areas than they do on the tube.

I don't think a single person has agreed that Welsh people love their mothers more. You seem fixated on this particular comment. Have multiple people said this to you or is it possible that it was just one strange person?