By Frank Lucasale One of the best things about visiting English-speaking countries is getting to listen in on people’s conversations. Forget chatting with the person I’m with—I’d rather hear the woman two tables over talking all about her toxic ex-boyfriend!
It turns out I’m not the only one who enjoys a bit of eavesdropping. There are entire Instagram accounts dedicated to overheard conversations. Below, we’ve shared some of the funniest recent posts from Overheard New York, along with a chat with Adam Groffman of Travels of Adam. Have fun reading these hilarious moments, and don’t forget to upvote your favorites!
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Have you ever done that thing where you heard someone walking by say something ridiculous or obnoxious and immediately (once they were out of earshot) you repeated what they said? I have done this countless times, perfectly in sync with one of my brothers or my partner, and it never gets old. The joy of overhearing something bizarre or something you don’t think you should have heard in the first place is so palpable. But why is that?
Well, when it comes to why we love eavesdropping so much, scientists say that sometimes, we actually just can’t resist. Apparently, when we hear one side of a conversation in particular, such as when someone is speaking on the phone in public, we are drawn to listening to them out of curiosity. Who’s on the other line? What are they saying? We want to fill in the gaps, and trying to figure out how juicy the conversation is is much more exciting than simply hearing both sides.
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“I know eavesdropping and listening in on other people’s conversations might seem weird, but in NYC, it’s just a way of life,” Adam explained. “We’re naturally curious – we ask questions and have no shame in enquiring what other people are doing or thinking. Consider the fact that we passed this NYC salary transparency law – our curiosity in how much people make has literally made it into law.”
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Adam also hypothesizes that the reason New Yorkers love eavesdropping is because they live in such a crowded city. “Our apartment windows look into each other’s; I can hear my neighbors through the walls. Our sidewalks are full of tourists and locals and Citi Bike riders and delivery drivers and postal workers and couriers,” he told Bored Panda. “We’re on top of each other, so of course we’re going to hear (and listen in) on what everyone’s saying.”
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Eavesdropping may seem rude at times, but according to Alison Jane Martingano, PhD, the habit might actually come with surprising benefits. Martingano wrote a piece for Psychology Today explaining how one experiment, featuring a diverse group of 86 New Yorkers, found that eavesdropping can be great for our theory of mind skills. “Eavesdroppers outperformed the interlocutors on both ToM measures,” Martingano writes. “Eavesdroppers were able to identify more emotions from the pictures of eyes correctly and were more likely to understand what Richard was thinking compared to interlocutors. These results suggest that eavesdropping can indeed be beneficial for social cognition.”
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“As our world becomes more interconnected, understanding and empathizing with others is more crucial than ever,” Martingano continued. “Enhancing our ToM abilities through listening can help forge stronger social connections, promote cooperation, and foster a more empathetic world. So next time you find yourself eavesdropping, remember—you might just be exercising your hidden superpower.”
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We hope you’re enjoying these juicy and hilarious snippets from the lives of New Yorkers, pandas. Keep upvoting all of your favorites, and feel free to share any other silly conversations you’ve overheard in NY or your own city in the comments below. Then, if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article featuring Overheard New York, you can find our previous editions here, here and here!
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