The big idea: why we should spend more time talking to strangers
Despite having more opportunities than ever to connect with strangers, and much to gain from doing so, people often refrain from talking with, and listening to, strangers. We propose a framework that classifies obstacles to connecting with strangers into three categories concerning intention (under-estimating the benefits of conversations), compete... See more
Stav Atir • Talking to strangers: Intention, competence, and opportunity
Sam Liebeskind added
Stav Atir, Xuan Zhao, et al.
So, if talking to strangers seems daunting to you, it might help to think that by doing so, you could give someone the gift of being seen.
Gillian Sandstrom • Why you should talk to strangers | BPS
One of the best ways to escape the confines of our worldview is to shift our peer group and talk to people whose work experiences and daily lives are very different from our own.
Roman Krznaric • How to Find Fulfilling Work: The School of Life
Talk to a different stranger, tell a few friends about your ideas, or join a meetup devoted to the subject. An online community. A book club. And if one doesn’t exist, start your own. Finally, it’s important to do these steps in order. You want to spend a bit of time playing around at the intersections of curiosities before taking this public.
Steven Kotler • The Art of Impossible
Kaustubh Sule added
.psychology
Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on conversation with a stranger? Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle, Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others... — Timothy Leary
Erikc Perez-Perez added
Their study found that adults who actively engage with people they don’t know also tend to be happier and less moody with their friends and family and feel a greater sense of belonging in their wider community, compared to adults who just go about their business, blinkered and insulated.
Lisa Messenger • Life & Love: Creating the Dream
Keely Adler and added
people fail to anticipate how much learning happens in conversa-tions with strangers. In a series of studies, Atir and colleagues [9] brought strangers together for 10-min conversations. Compared with how much participants expected to learn from a conversation prior to having it, they consistently reported learning more inter-esting, useful, and ge... See more
Stav Atir • Talking to strangers: Intention, competence, and opportunity
Sam Liebeskind added