elsewhereism

Noun

elsewhereism (uncountable)

1. The act or process of thinking about something other than one's immediate surroundings.
   • Indeed these old legends are in their nature subjective rather than objective, and have their roots in a primitive tendency of the human mind which might be named "elsewhereism" or " alibism."1876 October, “The Cradle of Civilisation”, in The Quarterly Journal of Science, volume 13, page 441
   • For example, engaging in 'elsewhereism' (e.g., daydreaming, doodling, and texting) is but one strategy that others may use to resist superordinate's attempts to frame the interaction sequences at hand.2022, Deborah C. Poff, University Corporate Social Responsibility and University Governance, page 139
2. A preference for other places; a belief that things are better or more interesting elsewhere.
   • Brodber uses the most commonly recognized tropes of Caribbean discourse—and, to borrow a term from Gates's Signifying Monkey, " tropes the tropes" of exile, self-hatred, self-alienation, and longing for the sought after prestige of privileged white Otherness, elevating elsewhereism, accepting as...2006, June E. Roberts, Reading Erna Brodber, page 58
   • Not subject to elsewhereism.2013, John Flood, What Do Lawyers Do?: An Ethnography of a Corporate Law Firm