Eric: "Hey, have you ever seen the movie, The NeverEnding Story?"
Kathleen: "No, why?"

At this point, I ended the conversation. Many people would have continued, simply because they enjoy talking. Completely oblivious to the fact that the individual has admitted having no frame of reference to the subject at hand - and would assuredly be disinterested in the story's remainder.

I refuse to do this, and I think this is why I have so much frustration with interpersonal communication.

I don't want to talk in the trivial. I don't want to listen to your commentary on the weather. I only want to talk about our overlapping passions. Behavioral and post-modern economics. Political and theological liberty. Emergent musical theory.

I don't just want to socialize. I want to think.

Note: for those of you who have seen the film, my podcast co-host got to interview Atreyu the other day. It was awesome.