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A person is not an important conversationalist until he can enjoy and discuss ideas and attitudes. Conversation in this country is believed to be especially weak on this level. Our small talk has been elevated to an art, but a kind of intellectual egalitarianism to the effect that one idea is as good as another and that under no circumstances is anyone to be disturbed in his beliefs, has thrown something like a social taboo on grappling conversationally with ideas. This type of conversation often naturally becomes discussion, though it should not become a debate or contest. The proper attitude is signalized in the comment the Scotchman, Dr. Campbell, made to Samuel Johnson, when the latter during a tour of the Hebrides, started disputing a point of husbandry. "Come," said Dr. Campbell, "we do not want to get the better of one another: we want to increase each other's ideas" (quoted from Esme Wingfield-Stratford, Good Talk, p. 162). Whereas one can state a fact in one sentence, one usually needs a whole paragraph to state an idea or |
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