Do you just hate those solitary conversation starters that…

"Do you come here often ?"

Imagination died soon after the invention of the iPhone

You ask a question because you want an answer, not a conversation.. when talking to strangers. None of us have any interest in talking to people we don't already know. That would be weird.

But sometimes you just want an answer of yes or no or when or how long, so you ask. It's something you need usually to make some type of assessment about a/the situation.

I don't think it has to do with multiculturalism haha. We always had multiculturalism here. It's more about communicational efficiency. We're learned not to waste so much. If you need something, you need something - if you don't, you don't.

We're far into this present decline, lack of communication skills is just one symptom. I like your words here, it's an issue I feel close to home, as i'm awful at having lengthy communication, but I don't do the one word things usually. If is a human doing it, perhaps there's a reserve until they feel at ease with whomever they're "talking" with.

People depend more now on texting!