> "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events/things. Small minds discuss wine." To counter with a more famous quote: "in vino veritas." A conver

> "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events/things. Small minds discuss wine." To counter with a more famous quote: "in vino veritas." A conversation's quality is the product of each participant's contributions, so perhaps there are ways you can enliven or guide the conversation to improve the experience for everyone. (Chances are you aren't the only person secretly thinking it's dull.) > there's nothing wrong with talking about good food you've had, some articles you've read, movies seen, etc. too. And to be funny and engaging while talking about it. It just feels like... after you're done talking about that, what then? Next you can use those shared topics to move beyond the what to the why, from facts to opinions, and from those to deep truths about ourselves and our world. "Oh cool you liked Batman v Superman? I couldn't see past the explosions, what did you like about it that I must've missed?" "Well the way the villain pitted the two heroes against each other reminded me of how when I was younger…" or "Well the scene where Superman gets nuked in orbit but then revives from the sun made me wonder about how radiation…" One should be genuinely curious as well as kind, because unlike sharing facts, sharing opinions or questions inherently creates vulnerability. You might've been getting at this, but in today's political powder keg, (fear of) visceral reactions to unorthodox opinions, facts, and even word choice impose significant barriers to reaching that next level of intimacy where you can share feelings and half-formed opinions. Still, it's not impossible to create that environment quickly, it just takes skill and the understanding that sometimes the immediate conditions just aren't right.