But what is it about eavesdropping that we like so much? Are we just nosy and intrusive by nature? When we're children, eavesdropping is actually a crucial part of our development. One study found that our ability to listen to conversations and glean information from them improves between the ages of 3 and 5. Even if we don't tell kids to listen to others' conversations for instructions, they're able to use the information they overhear to solve problems.
Professor of language science and author of Eavesdropping: An Intimate History John Locke says that eavesdropping is a necessary habit. Sometimes, it can act as a self-preservation method. "We live in extremely complicated social arrangements in which there are lots of people who are competing with us for the things that we want and they want. We have to be somewhat geared up to do eavesdropping."
We're also tempted to eavesdrop because we like to know what people are really like inside. When a person thinks you can't hear them, they're not adhering to their public persona. Locke calls this "intimacy be theft" and can be justified by some as attempts to get to know people. "We love it when we get something that's truly genuinely true about others and so we still prefer taking it, or if not taking it, extracting clues on our own."
What truth about New Yorkers did you get from this list, Pandas? Were some of them relatable, or do you think you have to be a New Yorker to truly get what these urbanites are talking about? Let us know your opinion in the comments! And if you'd like to see more overheard conversations from New York, check out our previous posts here, here, and here!
