This is the urban superpower. On a crowded bus, you acknowledge the stranger’s presence (you don't stare at the floor like a robot) but you withhold specific attention. You look through them to signal: “I see you are human, but I pose no threat, and I demand nothing from you.” It is the social glue of dense cities.
We live in the most connected era in human history. The average smartphone user has hundreds of “friends” online. Yet, rates of loneliness have tripled since the 1980s.
