Some people are only interesting from far away. Some are only interesting up close. Get close before you decide.

Distance flatters some people and hides others. The one who looks magnetic across a crowded room can turn out to be thin company, and the quiet one who gives nothing away in a group is often the best conversation you will have all year. Neither of those is visible from where you are standing, so judging from there means guessing wrong in both directions.

Have one proper conversation this week with somebody you have only ever seen in a group. Sit next to them on the bus, walk out together, ask something real. Ten minutes one to one tells you more than a term of watching.