Devil's advocate: not everyone has hobbies (or at least hobbies they're comfortable talking about upon first meeting people).  Additionally, while knowing a person's education and employment prospects may not tell you what kind of person they are or what their interests are, it does give you a fairly good understanding of their place in society and by extension, their probable socioeconomic status and political views.  This knowledge allows you to swim safely about in the realm of small talk without creating a social disturbance or appearing too standoffish.

I agree, though.  Small talk is silly, but most strangers unfortunately don't want to talk about parallel universes or how the world might react if it were discovered that the Ancient Egyptian religion was real.

Everyone would just be scrambling to build pyramids!  Surgeons and medical examiners would be booked for months trying to take people's organs out and --  What's that?  Oh, you left something in your car?  Weird, that's like the third person at this party who's told me that.

Most of those "small-talk" adults want to show off what they know about whatever subject the younger person is doing at any given time. 

I just tell them that I'm a web designer and start rambling about how hard it is to get a web design education. 

Most adults I know about know nothing about web design. They usually decide that they have nothing to talk to me about and leave me alone.

Not everyone has this luxury. But if you want to talk about Lego design, say that you're trying to do that. Or if you're truly devious, learn about a variety of subjects and pick the one the person in front of you knows nothing about. 

As for me, I'm still working on life - parents, financial difficulties, the works. But I'm still working on getting some money. It's rough, but I'll get though. And a lot of people don't get that, because they want results in a snap. I wish for this too, but it doesn't happen. So you might want to tell the small talkers to be patient. Eventually life will get more full. 

What I'd give to be underemployed. For now, I'm totally unemployed, and hesitant to put my self out there into the job market once again. I can only handle so much rejection, and my résumé isn't exactly getting much MORE attractive as the months wear on.

Anyway, I mostly stick to hobbies and half-truths: "I'm currently reviewing sets for a Lego blog," or the noncommittal "I'm kind of between jobs." At worst, they usually smile, nod and walk away.

I tell them I study astrophysics (which I do). They generally don't know how to respond.

If they do, it's usually either a question about the difference between astrophysics and astronomy, or a comment on some recent discovery, in which case I take the opportunity to correct all the misconceptions they've picked up from incompetent media. Occasionally, they ask about astrology, which they shortly regret doing.

Mastering small talk is all about making the other person ask questions that aren't directly about you, which can lead into a more interesting discussion - "What exactly is a black hole?" "What would happen if an asteroid hit Earth?" "Did you hear about the Pluto thing?" "I'm a Capricorn." Sigh...

But to be fair, life was in many ways easier for middle-class people who grew up a few decades ago (our parents' generation, not our grandparents'). University was cheaper and often easier, it wasn't as difficult to get a job, etc. So, when asking us youngsters about where we are in life and not being impressed with the answer, they forget that things are different for each generation.

Also, someone who's had a stable life for many years or decades often forgets that there were a few years after high school when they, too, didn't know what they were doing either.

-L