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The Saddest Map In America

dish.andrewsullivan.com

21–30 of 103 posts

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#21
post #18

Next, we should see a map with the worst traffic. Who funds these studies? Are they really necessary? Especially with the bias towards craigslist users?

The study was done by Dorothy Gambrell, who I know better as the author of the Cat and Girl webcomic, and published in Psychology Today, a popular magazine. I doubt there was any funding other than whatever Psychology Today paid her for the piece.

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#22

Why is this sad? Because Walmart is the most cited location? Seems great to me. People are reaching out. Would be more depressing if they just decided to not do anything about it. Plus this only has relevance to craigslist users. Seems like a fun conversation piece but certainly isn't the anything-est anything in America.

It is, in some ways, a sign of where we are now most likely to see people we don’t know in various parts of the country.

One could say the places listed are sad. "What ever happened to ?". You could take it as evidence that we are becoming less social, and withdrawing into our own shells.

It’s also a sign of male loneliness or romance: men seeking to find a possible love-mate outnumber women 86 – 14.

How is this not sad?

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#23

What I don't get is the states where it's at a bar. I can understand how it's weird to talk to people in some of those other places but a bar is an explicitly social environment. If people didn't want to talk to others, they'd be drinking at home for far less money. As cliche as it is, "hey, can I buy you a drink" still works as an ice breaker.

Bars per capita -- http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7wbbZeG9jwI/S1uUPYQCImI/AAAAAAAAAF...

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#25

Why is this sad? Because Walmart is the most cited location? Seems great to me. People are reaching out. Would be more depressing if they just decided to not do anything about it. Plus this only has relevance to craigslist users. Seems like a fun conversation piece but certainly isn't the anything-est anything in America.

I think the "saddest" headline is a little tongue-in-cheek and refers to the fact that they're missed connections, so it's a case of people getting "this close" to finding love, but having it elude them.

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#27

How is "the car" Georgia's most common missed connection? Hitchhikers? I can't think of anything else.

Stopped traffic. A couple of decades ago, the only road from Silicon Valley to Skyline in the hills was blocked by construction equipment repairing a washout. My wife got out and walked up the line to see what was going on. She started talking to a man standing there. Turns out he was a freelance developer and my wife said, "My son knows how to program.", which lead to his firs job as a programmer in high school. In this case a connection made in stopped traffic.

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#28
I never understood the concept of missed connections on craigslist. Honestly, what's the chance of two people meeting each other, forgetting to swap numbers, and then both going onto craigslist to search/post in the missed connections category?

It just seems like such an overwhelming statistical improbability that such a missed connection would ever be fulfilled through craigslist, I don't see why anyone would even bother posting.

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#29
post #28

I never understood the concept of missed connections on craigslist. Honestly, what's the chance of two people meeting each other, forgetting to swap numbers, and then both going onto craigslist to search/post in the missed connections category? It just seems like such an overwhelming statistical improbability that such a missed connection would ever be fulfilled through craigslist, I don't see why anyone would even b…

Probably for the same reason people play the lottery. The odds are against you, but the reward is worth that little bit of effort.

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#30
post #28

I never understood the concept of missed connections on craigslist. Honestly, what's the chance of two people meeting each other, forgetting to swap numbers, and then both going onto craigslist to search/post in the missed connections category? It just seems like such an overwhelming statistical improbability that such a missed connection would ever be fulfilled through craigslist, I don't see why anyone would even b…

"Missed connections" plays to a romantic mindset that doesn't consider things like probability and statistics in everyday life. I'd say more people have this mindset than the one you're expressing.
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