And in this setup you'd have forced interactions all the time, because from what has been said in the thread bathrooms and kitchen facilities would be communal and if you've got 4 people to a bathroom pretty good chance there's going to be someone else there as you go in or out, not to mention every time you want to eat or drink there's likely to be someone either in the kitchen to get something or just hanging around there.
Living in a commune is the worst place for someone who hates forced interaction
1. Unless everyone else decides to cook their pot of curry at 4 or 5 in the morning, I imagine I'll be fine. An in-room fridge works wonders for preserving leftovers and keeping me away from annoying people.
2. Outside-bathroom conversations: "Hi there. Later." Seriously. Having lived in a couple of dorms for two years, with people far more outgoing than B12 folks seem to be, I can tell you that bathroom conversations are not the most taxing.
Living in a commune is not the worst place for someone who hates forced interaction. For that, I'd have to say that living with one's family is the worst--because you're tied to the commune by money and your family by blood/responsibility/motherly guilt (and probably also money/assets).
Other thing: living in a commune for a little while would probably be a good preparation for living in Europe, which I fully intend to do at some point--for years, not a handful of months. If I can't get along with a little subset of my fellow Americans, how on earth would I get along with a country full of people who don't speak my language, a few of whom I'll probably wind up living with despite having never met them?
Simply put, I don't think the barriers on this are that large.
Also, who cares if it's a "sausage-fest?" So you have a bunch of dudes living together. Big deal. I say this, of course, as the only female member of my high school's "nerd club," and as a math major who is the only girl in many of her classes. It just honestly doesn't matter that much to me.