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

[MasterBeth]

Just seen a post on another thread where someone explains their behaviour at kids parties by saying something like "Of course, I live in a town, not a city, where behaviour is very different."

I also remember someone saying "But then I'm Welsh, and we love our Mams very much "

And people explaining why they leave their front doors unlocked "as I live in a village."

AIBU to think that none of these things are dependent on geography and you can behave at a party, love your mum or leave you door locked or unlocked wherever you live?

Ok whoever said to you "because I'm Welsh I love my Mum" is just odd. Nothing to do with geography, either physical geography or socio-economic geography.

But there becomes a point where a generalisation is so broad as to become useless.

To say "city people are like this" and "village people are like this" and neither of them are like town people just perpetuates misunderstanding and ignorance.

Maybe read the thread? 🤔

Agree that city living can be difficult. People are more wary and you’re less likely to make any friends.
Ds2 lived in a large town for a few years and only one lovely neighbour spoke to him the whole time he was there.
The parking was tricky , the place was noisy day and night and it could get rowdy. I know I couldn’t cope living in a big city like he did, but he liked the vibe and it did have some decent shops and a large leisure centre on his door step. I found it alien and I don’t live anywhere rural , just a normal small town that probably isn’t as safe as it used to be and has anti social attitudes and its problems too.

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?

This is the kind of silly othering I mean.

"Just a normal small town."

Why is the large town and/or city you refer to not "normal"?

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.

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.

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

It was a throwaway comment on here, but illustrates the unspoken assumptions many people have about their own and others' lives, like "just a normal small town" above.

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

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.

I'm really not trying to argue that geography doesn't exist!

I am specifically referring to when people conflate their personal circumstances with their geography and suggest that it's the only differentiator, beyond class/family set up/personality etc.

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

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

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.

You're misrepresenting the point. I haven't said geography "never" has an impact.

As above, I am specifically referring to when people conflate their personal circumstances with their geography and suggest that it's the only differentiator, beyond class/family set up/personality etc.

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

Who said it was the only differentiator?

The people I referred in my very first post. Anyone who explains their behaviour by saying something like "because I live in a village."

Geography is the study of culture as much as it is the study of rivers.

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.

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.

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.

Here we go.

"A friendship group is more likely to exist in a smaller village setting."

You think people who live in cities don't have... friends?

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.