Have you ever watched a small child enter a new social situation?
Perhaps it’s a playgroup or a local park. Depending on the child, she will likely take a while to play on the perimeter and observe the others, before picking someone to play beside.
Eventually, the child will interact with the strangers, finding some point of common interest -- the same yellow shovel, a cute flower on both their dresses. She doesn’t mind if they’re boys or girls, black or white. She doesn’t ask about religion or politics. She just finds something in common and makes a new friend.
It’s remarkable, really. And according to research on the science of networking, it’s something that adults should be emulating.
The sad truth is that people instinctively gravitate toward people like themselves. This is the easiest way to form associations -- we know that people like us will share the same norms. And if they broadly share our opinions about the world, we won’t have to deal with too much conflict. Sounds great, right? READ MORE
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