[mercer]

> For most people who aren't social butterflies, conversations are either simple social gestures or they actually have a point.

I think that's only partly true. In my life I've gone from extremely shy, 'introverted' and lonely to socially active and 'extraverted'. Both were not optimal and thankfully I think I've found a balance that works for me.

An important part of finding that balance was to accept that for a lot of my friends, especially the extraverts, 'simple social gestures' and small-talk type conversations do have a point. They need those.

And I'd be a bad friend if I didn't learn to do that occasionally, in the same way that they'd be bad friends if they wouldn't let me monologue about some subject I just spent a week reading about in isolation (where 'bad' means partly 'not a nice person', and partly 'just not a great match as friends).