Civil inattention allows strangers in public to acknowledge one another briefly without demanding sustained engagement. It is a way of organizing public copresence: people show they have noticed others while withholding the fuller involvement expected in focused encounters such as conversations.
- Entry typeKey concept
- Category of its source unitAnalytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
- DomainConversation & Relationships
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Entry type
Key concept
Key concepts are the working vocabulary of the field: the terms that the models and tools rely on and that a decision about communication has to use precisely. Each entry defines the term and sends you to the brief or the self-guided audit where it is put to work.
Editorial orientation · Category
Analytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
Organizes dimensions, distinctions, types or questions so that a situation can be examined systematically. A framework supplies structure, a typology distinguishes forms, and a heuristic offers a usable way to orient judgment.