‘If afterwards I know nothing more about you than I knew before,’ he tells me, ‘then that will be small talk.’ The psychologist Matthias Mehl at the University of Arizona studies conversations, and he defines small talk on the basis of how much information is exchanged. The world over, lifts are a microcosm of that most pained aspect of social interaction – small talk. One reason is the typical duration of a lift journey – long enough to feel the social pressure to say something, anything, but never long enough to say something worthwhile.
Have you ever had a decent conversation in a lift? If not, join the club – being in a lift with a stranger is a universally awkward experience.
