Positive Quiddity: Direct Personal Conversation

Can Conversation Make a Comeback?

Newton’s Blog from RealClearScience,
Posted by Ross Pomeroy at Mon, 07 Nov 2011 

Sunlight streams from the autumn sky. The beams cause the rippling water of Lake Calhoun to glimmer like diamonds. Leaves of amber and scarlet fall from the painted tress and take flight in the wind. Their aerial dance lends a lighthearted touch to this rustic October day in Minnesota.

Amidst this picturesque scene sits 28 year-old Taylor Baldry, recently returned from two years of teaching English in Japan. Baldry is currently unemployed, but he's far from idle. The self-described "brainstormer, art-designer, and large-nosed person" has a new project that has people talking, literally.

It's called "The Conversationalist." The project's goal? Resurrect the ancient art of actually talking face-to-face.

It's quite simple really. All Baldry needed to get going was a card table, a tablecloth, some folding chairs, a small brass reading lamp (for the ambiance), and a large sign touting "Free Conversations." He finalized the experience with a menu of topics that any passerby can sit down and peruse. Care to talk about the weather? How about the latest book that you read? Will you dare to dabble in politics? When a customer orders up a topic, Baldry supplies the discussion.
　
The idea has been a huge success. Baldry's table has rarely been empty and those interested must occasionally stand in line for the opportunity to dine on a healthy dose of face-to-face discourse.

There is a point to Baldry's "Conversationalist," and it's far from irrelevant. In this day and age, true conversation is definitely on the decline.

You can blame the advent of technology like texting, social media, and instant messaging for this situation. While these forms of communication have broken down barriers in some areas - distance, for example - they've erected barriers in others. It's now easier to call or video-conference than it is to actually meet with someone. In addition, it's also easier to text a roommate from your room than it is to get up from your bean-bag chair, walk downstairs, and talk to them.

Lost amongst these technological forms of communication is genuine conversation. A text contains no easily discernible vocal inflection. There's no eye contact. There are no facial gestures. There's no body posturing. There are no handshakes or hugs. These cues can be vital to learning and real comprehension, and they are falling by the wayside.

At the same time, Americans are on their way to sending over 2 trillion texts per year. Many of these tend to be terse, occasionally incomprehensible, and subject to the whims of potentially unreliable cellular service.

Maybe the world is simply changing. Maybe one day we will all walk around with bionic implants, looking back at face-to-face conversation as a relic of a primitive society. But that day has certainly not come yet, not if Taylor Baldry has anything to say about it. As he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

"There's a sense that conversation seems to be this old-timey thing, and it doesn't have to be," he said. "I don't want it to go the way of the record and have it become something that only purists enjoy. I'd love to take [The Conversationalist] further and fuel a conversation revolution.

"But for now, it's me at a table in a park."

http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2011/11/the-return-of-conversation.html