It’s easy to hide in a crowd. A teacher may be challenged to track the journey of each student in a 30 person class, let alone a 500 person lecture hall. Looking out into an audience of 1000s has the same issue. It’s nearly impossible to truly see every person.
This also works from the opposite perspective. The larger the work group, performance ensemble, or city, the easier it is for members to hide in the collective.
There is a way to design for exposure. Smaller groups, ensembles, and cities, highlight the members. There’s no place to hide on a stage that only has five performers. There’s no place to hide in a gathering of ten or fifteen people. Small town life is known for everyone knowing everything about everyone.
Exposure does two things. It teaches us about others, of course, but also teaches us about ourselves.
In a world where we trend towards digital anonymity, maybe we need more situations in which we have no opportunity to hide.