PLATE VII   Table for two, past the weather.

NOTE 06 · CHAPTER II

One question further

HABITAT    Dinner tables, first meetings, friendships

Pairs of strangers handed deeper questions — what they were most grateful for, the last time they cried in front of someone — expected those talks to be awkward. They were far less awkward than feared, and left people feeling more connected. Small talk also beat expectations, but the miss was biggest for depth: people underestimated how interested the other person would be.18