University of Chicago Booth School of Business professor Nick Epley on a train ride conversation that influenced a decade of research on human connection
Nick Epley's train ride to his University of Chicago office used to be a predictably uneventful affair: 45 minutes of people looking out the window or staring at their phones, oblivious to the world around them. But one morning, the behavioral scientist decided to try something different. When a woman sat down next to him, he complimented her on her hat.
That compliment began a conversation that would change the trajectory of Nick's research over the ensuing decade, and it would change the way Nick approached his life.