Do you have kids? My very most favorite thing to do is to converse with my kids, 17-25, and my second is to somehow overhear them discussing things amongst their friends. Language styles have surely changed, and they have a lot more media and comms savvy, but an exchange of propositions intended to elucidate an issue more clearly seems to be alive and well.
And as far as people your own age, perhaps you are encountering the sad truth that most of adult interaction is not like collegiate exploration of reality, nor even the semi good natured posturing of high school, but the out and out war of junior high school.
Seek out small groups with interesting concerns and you can find open, inquisitive minds.
Also, those dumb strangers, probably they all have at least one interesting story in them, try a strategy of adjusting your words to make what you wish to find more probably. It won’t always work, but enough to make public transit a fun way to get around.
And as far as people your own age, perhaps you are encountering the sad truth that most of adult interaction is not like collegiate exploration of reality, nor even the semi good natured posturing of high school, but the out and out war of junior high school.
Seek out small groups with interesting concerns and you can find open, inquisitive minds.
Also, those dumb strangers, probably they all have at least one interesting story in them, try a strategy of adjusting your words to make what you wish to find more probably. It won’t always work, but enough to make public transit a fun way to get around.