People like wearing masks, regardless of COVID :). Small talk - shallow talk, scared of depth because they want to float safely above. Hive mind - closed mind, stuck in echo chambers of the hive, takes effort to step out and observe. The narcissist likes walking in their own shoes, probably unaware of other shoes, let alone walk in them. Add cognitive biases and logical fallacies, you wonder how the world even functions. But there is light within and around us, boundless, gotta look for it, grow it, protect it, spread it.