Maybe you should talk to strangers

Most of us were taught as children not to talk to or take candy from strangers. (Except for on Halloween, and then get all the candy you can handle.) There is wisdom in this, of course. But we can also take it too far and not speak to anyone at all. At least, not anyone real.

But what would happen if you put down your phone and asked the person nearest you a question? And I don’t mean something surface-y or small talk-oriented either. (I loathe small talk.) I mean being curious about other p...