Have you ever noticed when you get in an elevator, strangers optimize space between them.  You get in, press your number and step to the back corner of the elevator.  Next person gets in, hits their number and steps to the back opposite corner.  As more people enter, space is optimized by people standing as far away as possible from each other.  Knowing this is the norm of human behavior, sometimes, I shake it up.  I'll get in, push my button and stand dead center in the elevator.  It's fun to see what happens next!  Ah, Patrick the Disruptor! 

In the field of Nonverbal Communication, the study of space is called Proxemics.  When I took my graduate course in nonverbal communication, I was fascinated by … well … EVERYTHING!  One HUGE takeaway from that course was an acute awareness about       space.

Our use of space fills two opposing human needs:  Affiliation or Privacy.

If we seek...