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Unit2SpaceInvadersRichardStengelAtmybanktheotherday,Iwasstandinginalinesnakingaroundsometiredvelvetropeswhenamaninasweat-suitstartedinchingtowardmeinhiseagernesstodeposithisSocialSecuritycheck.Ashedidso,IminutelyadvancedtowardthewomanreadingtheWallStreetJournalinfrontofme,who,inmildannoyance,begantosidleuptothemanscribblingacheckinfrontofher,whoabsentmindedlyshuffledtowardthewhite-hairedladyaheadofhim,untilwewereallhugger-muggeragainsteachother,theoriginallazylinehavingcollapsedinonitselflikeaSlinky.Iestimatethatmypersonalspaceextendseighteeninchesinfrontofmyface,onefoottoeachside,andaboutteninchesinback—thoughitisnearlyimpossibletomeasureexactlyhowfarbehindyousomeoneisstanding.Thephrasepersonalspacehasaquaint,seventiesringtoit(You'reinvadingmyspace,man),butitisoneofthosegratifyingexpressionsthatareintuitivelyunderstoodbyallhumanbeings.Likethetwelve-milelimitaroundournationalshores,personalspaceisourindividualborderbeyondwhichnostrangercanpenetratewithoutmakingusuneasy.Lately,I'vefoundthatmypersonalspaceisbeinginvadedmorethaneverbefore.Inelevators,peoplearewedgingthemselvesinjustbeforethedoorsclose;onthestreet,pedestriansarezigzaggingthroughthehumantraffic,jostlingothers,refusingtogiveway;onthesubway,ridersarenolongertakingpainstocarveoutlittlezonesofspacebetweenthemselvesandfellow-passengers;inlinesatairports,peoplearepressingforwardlikefidgetytaxisatredlights.Atfirst,IattributedthistendencytothepopulationexplosionandtherelentlessMalthusianlogicthatiftwiceasmanypeopleinhabittheplanetnowasdidtwentyyearsago,eachofushashalfasmuchspace.Recently,I'vewonderedifit'stheseason:T-shirtweathercanmakeproximitymorealluring(ormuch,muchless).OrperhapstheproliferationofcoffeebarsinManhattan—thenumberseemstodoubleeverythreemonths—isinfusingsomuchcaffeineintothealreadyjanglinglocalsthatpeoplecannolongerkeeptothemselves.Personalspaceismostlyapublicmatter;weallowallkindsofinvasionsofpersonalspaceinprivate.(Humanitywouldn'texistwithoutthem.)Thelogisticsofitvaryaccordingtogeography.PeoplewholiveinCalcuttahavelesspersonalspacethanfolksinColorado.Don'ttreadonmecouldhavebeencoinedonlybysomeonewithaspread.IwouldwagerthatpeopleintheNorthernHemispherehaveroomierconceptionsofpersonalspacethanthoseintheSouthern.ToanEnglishman,ahandshakecanseemliketrespassing,whereastoaBrazilian,anythinglessthanahugmaycomeacrossaschilliness.Likedriverswhoplowintoyourparkedandemptycaranddon'tleaveanote,peoplenolongermutterExcusemewhentheybumpintoyou.Thedeclineofmannershasbeenwidelylamented.Manners,itseemstome,areaboutgivingpeoplespace,notsteppingontoes,grantingpeopletheirprivatedomain.I'vealsonoticedanincreaseintheranksofwhatIthinkofasspaceinvaders,mini-territorialexpansionistswhoseizepublicspacewithasenseofmanifestdestiny.Inmovietheatresthesedays,peoplearestakingaclaimtobotharmrests,annexingalltheelbowroom,whileatcoffeeshopsandontheLongIslandRailroad,individualsroutinelycommandeerboothsandsetsoffacingseatsmeantforfoursomes.Ultimately,personalspaceispsychological,notphysical:ithaslesstodowiththespaceoutsideusthanwithourinnerspace.Isuspectthattheshrinkingofpersonalspaceisdirectlyproportionaltotheexpansionofself-absorption:peoplewhoseattentionisinwarddonotbothertolookoutward.Eventhefocusofsciencethesedaysismicro,notmacro.TheHumanGenomeProjectismappingtheuniverseofthegeneticcode,whileneuroscientistsareusingsouped-upM.R.I.machinestocharttheflightofneuronsinourbrains.Inthesamewaythatthebreezefromabutterfly'swingsinJapanmayeventuallyproduceatidalwaveinCalifornia,Ihavedecidedtoexpandthecontractingboundariesofpersonalspace.Inthelineatmybank,Inowrefusetomovecloserthanthreefeettothepersoninfrontofme,evenifitmeansthatthefellowbehindmestartsbreathingdownmyneck空间入侵者理查德·斯坦格尔1几天前，我去银行排队，队伍沿着松松垮垮的天鹅绒围栏蜿蜒前伸，这时一位身穿运动套装的男子急不可耐地从我后头向前挪步，想尽早办理社会保险支票存储业务。当他这么做的时候，我只好谨小慎微地向排在我前面阅读《华尔街日报》的女士挪动步子。她略有不快，于是侧身向她前面那位正在涂写一张支票的男士走去，而这位男士则漫不经心地拖着脚走向他前面的银发老太。这样我们的队伍就变得七歪八扭，原来慵懒的队伍活脱脱变成了个“机灵鬼”1。2我估计我个人空间的范围身前有18英寸，身后10英寸，两侧各1英尺——尽管要估算某人站在你身后多远几乎是不可能的。“个人空间”这个词组带有一种古雅的、70年代的味道(“老兄，你侵犯了我的空间”)，但这是一个能让全人类一下子明白过来的令人满意的词组之一。就像我们国家拥有12海里领海权一样，个人空间就是我们的边界，只要有陌生人穿过这个边界，就会使我们感到不安。3最近，我发现我的个人空间比以往任何时候所遭受的侵犯都更加厉害。电梯里，人们抢在关门之前拼命挤进来；马路上，行人奋勇向前，在人流中穿梭，推推搡搡，拒不让路；地铁中，乘客不再刻意在自己和别人之间留出狭小空间；在机场队伍中，人们拼命向前压上，就像等待红灯时烦躁不安的出租车一样。4最开始我把这种趋势归结于“人口爆炸”以及无情的马尔萨斯理论。该理论认为，如果现在居住在地球上的人口比20年前多一倍，每个人得到的空间就缩小一半。近来，我怀疑是不是季节的原因：穿着T恤衫的天气使彼此靠近更具吸引力(抑或使吸引力大大减少)。或许是因为曼哈顿咖啡厅的激增——数量每3个月翻一番——将如此多的咖啡因注入原来就已经烦躁不安的当地人体内，使他们更加难以离群索居。5个人空间基本上是个公众场合的问题；私下里，我们允许对个人空间进行各种各样的侵犯。(没有这些“侵犯”，人类不可能存在。)如何界定个人空间的大小因地而异。住在加尔各答的人比科罗拉多的人个人空间要来得少。“别踩我”这句话只可能是由拥有大牧场的人杜撰发明的。我敢担保北半球的居民比南半球的个人空间的概念要宽大。对英国人来说，握个手简直就是擅闯禁地，而对巴西人来说，不给你来个拥抱就会给人一种冷若冰霜的感觉。6就像司机撞上你停着的空车连个条子也不留，人们撞上人再也不说声“对不起”。世风日下，哀声遍野。在我看来，礼貌就是给别人以空间，不冒犯他人，允许别人有隐私。7我还注意到，那些我所认为的空间入侵者们的规模在不断扩大，这些小小的领土扩张主义者们带着舍我其谁的架势堂而皇之地侵占着公共空间。这些日子，在影剧院中，人们霸占着两边的扶手，吞并手肘的全部空间；在咖啡厅里和长岛的铁路上，往往一个人就占领了面对面的火车座，而这种座位本来是给4位顾客或乘客的。8归根结底，个人空间是个心理上的问题，而非物理上的问题：与其说它与我们的外部空间相关，不如说它与人的内心空间相关。我怀疑个人空间的缩水直接与自我专注的扩大成比例：那些只关注自我的人根本不屑于关注外部世界。这些日子，甚至科学研究都聚焦于微观世界而非宏观领域。人类基因组工程正力图绘制基因代码的全貌，神经科学家们正使用加强型磁共振成像机捕捉脑神经元的飞速漫游。9正如日本一只蝴蝶轻舞飞扬可能