Do you prefer talking about people -- or discussing ideas? For example, if you had a choice between chatting with your coworker about her neighbor's friend's cousin, or conversing about something more substantive -- say, human behavior, the future of the U.S. under Donald Trump, or research-backed ways to lose weight -- which would you choose? As you can probably guess, I strongly favor the latter. When it comes to people-centered conversations, I become very bored after a while unless the conversation concerns something impressive the subject has done (e.g., graduate with honors or start his own business). I find the most compelling conversations to be those I can (1) relate to, and (2) ultimately learn something from. For example, if I were looking to sell my property, I would take great interest in a friend's drawn-out speech on everything her sister went through to sell her townhouse. If I were looking to buy new tires for my car, I'd listen attentively to...