I think that a good conversation can happen between people of dissimilar education, experience and intelligence, however, folks need to refrain from having a superior attitude and be open to hearing and learning from someone "different". This, unfortunately, is all to lacking today, and I find the competition and points-scoring attitude abounding in comversations I overhear. Being stubborn and opinionated are ok, but an open mind to listening is basic to a good talk. Educated people, intelligent people, can make a conversation really bad quickly with a lack of ability to listen.

It is particularily annoying to me to be in a conversation where the other person is constantly relating the discussion to her own life, his own kid, her own job, home, car, "ME, ME, ME"-ing all over the place and never truly responding to the conversation in a thoughtful way. Just a quick example: Yesterday a co-worker was telling me about a man in our building whose attention concerns her. She feels somewhat threatened by him - nothing overt has happened yet, but... Well, some people would immediately launch into a story about how that happened to them, etc. I could have done that as well, but I was more concerned with how she might handle what she perceives as "potential" threat. Not that I am the world's greatest listener, not meaning to toot my own horn - just that the response I'm looking for in conversations is not "ME", it's more "US"...

And I do admit to a problem dealing with people whose intelligence appears to be less than my own - and I even admit that sometimes I think it's just about everyone! I have met and enjoyed lot of folks whose experience and education were more, or less, than mine, or just different, and as long as there is some functioning intelligence I always hope to have an enlightening exchange. Then there are the times I just shut up and let them have their say!

Now that I've made myself out to be some kind of paragon of conversational virtue, I'll go eat some lunch and hope I don't have to talk to anyone on the way!


What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? -Ursula K. Le Guin, author (1929- )