Exactly, the majority of the strangers that end up talking to me turn out to be total weirdos. Apparently something about the way I carry myself seems to paint

Exactly, the majority of the strangers that end up talking to me turn out to be total weirdos. Apparently something about the way I carry myself seems to paint me as a target. So, I've taken to wearing earphones to signal I'm not interested in talking, sometimes I'm not even actually listening to anything, most of the time the volume is low enough that I can hear everything just fine. I'll even intentionally pull my phone out and try to look like I'm doing something on it to signal my disinterest. On the other hand, if I see someone I wouldn't mind speaking to, like if someone looks like they have a question, they need help or if they are wearing/doing something interesting, I won't do any of that and may strike up a conversation myself. This idea reminds me of that meme template of the guy standing in a corner at a party thinking "they don't know that I..." while everyone else is busy enjoying themselves. Pre-smartphone I'd probably be using an mp3 player or playing on a handhold console and always carrying a book to read (or appear to read). The examples of public transport are especially odd, the very purpose of being on transport is that you would rather be somewhere else, why would they interact with strangers? I remember the pre-smartphone world, people still didn't regularly engage in casual conversation with strangers on public transport, they read, listened to mp3 players, played on handheld consoles, or most often, just napped.