In twelve experiments with over 1,800 people, strangers assigned deep conversations enjoyed them more, felt more connected, and found them less awkward than they predicted. People keep choosing small talk anyway, because they underestimate how interested the other person is. Your honest position?

Options

• I believe it and still won't do it; going first is a real risk even if the average outcome is good
• This matches my experience — every real friendship I have started with someone skipping a step
• Depth isn't the variable; I've had shallow conversations that connected and deep ones that didn't
• Small talk isn't failure, it's a negotiation about whether it's safe to go further
• I'd go deep immediately if there were any acceptable way to signal it
• Probably real in a lab, probably not outside one