Meeting people is like trying to solve a puzzle with shifting pieces. As you talk, ask questions, and tell stories an image of the person begins to form in your mind. If you are lucky, the person you meet is actually someone you want to get to know. If you're not lucky, you waste time and suffer through awkward moments, embarrassment, and irreconcilable differences in opinion.

But when does someone cease being a stranger? At what point do you know someone enough that you start to care about their life? Is it a matter of how much you know about them, or is it what you know about them?

I think that it is what you know about someone that makes them seem closer to you. Because there will always be little details about someone that you'll never learn. The important parts of them are what help us envision the big picture. Knowing that someone is bright, that they love their dog, or that they are close to their father are all pieces that fit together. Learning more about them certainly changes how you look at them, but the big pieces, the pieces that make you like someone; they are already in place.