I think many people at Ivy League colleges don't know how to talk about those topics, or aren't interested in them. ;-)
I certainly didn't when I went to college, though I try to practice when I get a chance now. And I remember many of my classmates expressing an uncomfortableness with smalltalk when I got to freshman orientation. "I'd rather talk about God or philosophy or Plato or quantum physics than the weather or sports results," I heard many people say.
Remember there's a bit of selection bias at work here: people who like to learn about and talk about academic things tend to do well in academics, which is how they got into Ivy League colleges in the first place.
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I think many people at Ivy League colleges don't know how to talk about those topics, or aren't interested in them. ;-)
I certainly didn't when I went to college, though I try to practice when I get a chance now. And I remember many of my classmates expressing an uncomfortableness with smalltalk when I got to freshman orientation. "I'd rather talk about God or philosophy or Plato or quantum physics than the weather or sports results," I heard many people say.
Remember there's a bit of selection bias at work here: people who like to learn about and talk about academic things tend to do well in academics, which is how they got into Ivy League colleges in the first place.