The biggest totem to interpersonal misunderstanding is the selfie stick.
Overly Lonely: How Misunderstanding Others Creates Barriers to Connection
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Connecting with others increases happiness and health, but people routinely forgo opportunities for positive connections with friends, family, neighbors, and even strangers. In experiments asking people to connect with strangers, express gratitude, perform random acts of kindness, give compliments, ask for help, and engage in constructive confrontation, there’s a consistent tendency to underestimate the positive impact one’s own prosocial acts will have on others. Misunderstanding the minds of others creates a barrier to connecting with others, thereby keeping people from being social enough for both one’s own and others’ well-being. Stick around after the event for a book signing with Nicholas Epley.
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