Can we get rid of small talk, please?

WE'VE ALL been there, stuck on an airplane, cornered at a party, getting verbally attacked by the lowest form of communication: small talk.

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These conversations are somehow scripted yet without substance, and to the person on the receiving end, they're often a burden.

It feels like a way for someone who has little to say to make themselves feel better by filling a void. In actuality, they're often creating a larger one.

This inevitable and often outdated form of chit-chat may no longer be applicable in today's society. Its proper nomenclature, "phatic communication," was coined by anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in 1923 and was essentially created to label how we avoid those awkward silences.

More than a hundred years later, it's time to say goodbye to this empty reach for connection.

In a world in which people communicate more through electronic devices than in person, it is nice to be greeted with a "good morning™" or "how's it going?" I'm all for acknowledging the other humans around you. But would it be so bad if we stopped there? For introverts, it's particularly harrowing, and those on the spectrum often find these types of conversations both confusing and challenging.

As for Gen Z it is literally anxiety producing, as 75% now report feeling uncomfortable with watercooler conversations among coworkers. What was once commonplace for one generation is a form of torture for others.