In fact, Jonas and his tumor were as different from each other as you and the person sitting next to you.

So even if you're an extrovert yourself, I'm talking about your coworkers and your spouses and your children and the person sitting next to you right now -- all of them subject to this bias that is pretty deep and real in our society.

And there was that same awkward silence from most of my classmates, until sitting next to me, one of my friends, one of the cool kids in class, Steven, leaned across and punched me really hard in the head.

I sat down next to a stout, middle-aged man with owl glasses and a bow tie, and he turned out to be a Fulbright scholar, there in China specifically to study Sino-Soviet relations.

That change is incredibly subtle, which is why, when you look at other people, when you look at the person sitting next to you, you don't see their skin or their face changing color.

But extroverts amongst you are probably those who have not only tried, but they have successfully licked the elbow of the person sitting next to them.

A couple of hours later, in the midst of a chaotic house overflowing with friends and family, our neighbor Neal comes over, sits down next to my parents and asks, "What can I do?"

All told, they've made about 25 billion dollars in worldwide box office, which means that hundreds of millions of people have seen these films when they leave their homes, and sit next to someone they don't know and the lights go down.

People I met were more than happy, as I was sitting next to them -- people like Robin -- to tell me about who they are, why they use medical marijuana, what helps them, how it helps them, and to give me advice and suggestions.

That person sitting right next to you might have the most idiosyncratic inner life, but you don't have a clue because we're all wearing the same blank expression all the time.

And my mother, she takes a walk in the park, and sits on a bench in the sun, hoping that a passerby will come and sit next to her and have a conversation about life or about the ducks in the pond.

And then slowly, feather by feather, detail by detail, I worked out and achieved -- working in front of the television and Super Sculpey -- here's me sitting next to my wife -- it's the only picture I took of the entire process.