DGUtley
04-26-2021, 06:17 AM
The lack of small talk is breaking our brains... (https://thewalrus.ca/blah-blah-blah-the-lack-of-small-talk-is-breaking-our-brains/)
Blah Blah Blah: The Lack of Small Talk Is Breaking Our BrainsChit-chat is often dismissed as mindless and boring. But its absence over the past year is affecting you more than you think...
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I never thought I’d say this, but I miss small talk. I miss those fifteen-second exchanges with strangers at the gym. I miss asking acquaintances about their significant others or dropping an “I like your shoes” to a woman in the elevator before hopping off.
In our pandemic world, casual conversation has been all but eliminated. The closest thing I get these days is saying “thank you” to a delivery person or greeting a grocery store clerk. Even then, I’m hesitant to linger—every unnecessary moment with a stranger feels taboo, every breath a hazard. And, now, in the absence of chit-chat, I feel isolated and unenergized. This has led to a potentially controversial revelation: small talk gets an unfairly bad rap.
Science backs me up on this. “Small talk functions as a crucial social ritual,” says Jessica Methot, a behavioural scientist at Rutgers University who studies social networks. “It’s a way to grease the wheels.” Methot has co-authored a number of papers that have found several benefits for small talk in work settings—work being one of the most common venues for chit-chat. In one study, she and her team found that, on days employees had more small talk with coworkers or supervisors, their mood improved, they had more energy, and there was a decrease in burnout.
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https://thewalrus.ca/blah-blah-blah-the-lack-of-small-talk-is-breaking-our-brains/
:violent1::greatjob::hello::yawn::notworthy::Doh!: :director2::slap:
Blah Blah Blah: The Lack of Small Talk Is Breaking Our BrainsChit-chat is often dismissed as mindless and boring. But its absence over the past year is affecting you more than you think...
37468
I never thought I’d say this, but I miss small talk. I miss those fifteen-second exchanges with strangers at the gym. I miss asking acquaintances about their significant others or dropping an “I like your shoes” to a woman in the elevator before hopping off.
In our pandemic world, casual conversation has been all but eliminated. The closest thing I get these days is saying “thank you” to a delivery person or greeting a grocery store clerk. Even then, I’m hesitant to linger—every unnecessary moment with a stranger feels taboo, every breath a hazard. And, now, in the absence of chit-chat, I feel isolated and unenergized. This has led to a potentially controversial revelation: small talk gets an unfairly bad rap.
Science backs me up on this. “Small talk functions as a crucial social ritual,” says Jessica Methot, a behavioural scientist at Rutgers University who studies social networks. “It’s a way to grease the wheels.” Methot has co-authored a number of papers that have found several benefits for small talk in work settings—work being one of the most common venues for chit-chat. In one study, she and her team found that, on days employees had more small talk with coworkers or supervisors, their mood improved, they had more energy, and there was a decrease in burnout.
37467
37469
37470
37471
https://thewalrus.ca/blah-blah-blah-the-lack-of-small-talk-is-breaking-our-brains/
:violent1::greatjob::hello::yawn::notworthy::Doh!: :director2::slap: