I barely registered the difference between small talk and big talk
I am still confused about what “small talk” is after reading this post.
Sure, talking about the weather is definitely small talk. But if I want to get to know somebody, weather talk can’t possibly last for more than 30 seconds. After that, both parties have demonstrated the necessary conversational skills to move on to more interesting topics. And the “getting to know each other” phase is really just a spectrum between surface level stuff and your deepest personal secrets, so I don’t really see where you would draw the line between small and deep talk.
One situation I struggle with on the other hand is when I would rather avoid talking to a person at all, and so I want to maintain the shallowest possible level of small talk. (Ideally I could tell them that “sorry, I would rather just not talk to you right now”, but that’s not really socially accepted.)
Ideally I could tell them that “sorry, I would rather just not talk to you right now”, but that’s not really socially accepted.
You can show disinterest or make up excuses to leave the social interaction. These behaviors are a lot worse, IMO, than just telling them straight up, but these are the socially accepted methods. Talking about sociopathic tendencies in the general public...
I am still confused about what “small talk” is after reading this post.
Sure, talking about the weather is definitely small talk. But if I want to get to know somebody, weather talk can’t possibly last for more than 30 seconds. After that, both parties have demonstrated the necessary conversational skills to move on to more interesting topics. And the “getting to know each other” phase is really just a spectrum between surface level stuff and your deepest personal secrets, so I don’t really see where you would draw the line between small and deep talk.
One situation I struggle with on the other hand is when I would rather avoid talking to a person at all, and so I want to maintain the shallowest possible level of small talk. (Ideally I could tell them that “sorry, I would rather just not talk to you right now”, but that’s not really socially accepted.)
You can show disinterest or make up excuses to leave the social interaction. These behaviors are a lot worse, IMO, than just telling them straight up, but these are the socially accepted methods. Talking about sociopathic tendencies in the general public...