making conversation

Dialectic conversation is about an exchange of views and ideas which resolves itself in consensus. The goal is to align the participants under a mutually agreed resolution they can all support from that point forwards.

Essentially, there is one right answer.

Dialogic conversation, on the other hand, isn’t about reaching a consensus. It’s about an exc... See more

Sherry Turkle made a provocative observation in her 2016 book Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. She claimed that it takes seven minutes for a conversation to really get good. In those first seven minutes, participants are mostly giving standard answers to one another’s questions. However engagened and genuine they may be,... See more

even the consumer of the conversation — the podcast listener in this case — is kind of a virtual participant, because they are witnessing the dialogue happen. That's something I feel all the time as I listen to podcasts and subconsciously formulate my own (imagined) responses in real time, as if I'm also a guest. That effect is pretty potent. I int... See more

We should include the great thinkers of the past in our conversations and let them help us fulfill our purpose of talking about things that matter. We shouldn’t let their names or ideas become a substitution for humble curiosity.