Jen Bird

Jen Bird is the owner and co-founder of Athena Books, an independent bookstore in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, created with her husband Odysseas Kostas as a community gathering place for readers, book clubs, author events, and children’s programming. She is also publicly identified as Sue Bird’s sister.

People Underestimate How Rewarding Small Social Interactions Will Be

University of Chicago behavioral scientist Nicholas Epley argues that people routinely forgo small acts of connection because they wrongly expect them to be awkward, unwelcome or unrewarding. In a research-focused Aspen Ideas Festival conversation with Kelly Corrigan, Epley says that misprediction affects encounters with strangers and friends alike, from starting a conversation to expressing gratitude or offering condolences. His case is not for constant sociability, but for testing the pessimistic forecasts that keep people from reaching out.

The Aspen InstituteJul 2, 202621 min read