Page 151 - Wake Up and do Your Thing

NICHOLAS BOOTHMAN
Step 5
Talk to a Stranger Today
Connecting face-to-face with other people is, and always has been, the world's number one pursuit. It's been going on since our ancestors gathered around the fire chomping on woolly mammoth steaks and stitching together stylish zebra-hide fashions. It’s what we do when we hang out with friends, hold golf tournaments, go to conferences and garage sales; it underlies our cultural rituals from the serious to the frivolous, from weddings and funerals to Barbie Doll conventions and hotdog-eating contests.
Making connections is what your brain does best. It receives information from your senses, and processes it by making comparisons and connections. Your brain delights in, and learns from, making connections. Your brain grows and flourishes when it is making connections. People do the same thing.
Whether or not doing your particular thing requires you to get out and connect face-to-face with other people, there’s no denying that talking to strangers isn’t just the right thing to do: it’s a matter of survival.
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