Do you dread trading niceties with retail clerks and assorted other strangers when you are out in public? Do you go out of your way to avoid neighbors and co-workers so that you do not have to engage ...

Why do humans make small talk? We spend a lot of time worrying about how to chit-chat amusingly, or how to be captivating. We complain when it seems trivial or a waste of time. And we bemoan the ...