The art of conversation

nvm. Not looking for serious conversation.

I too like chatting with crazy people, I'm one of those crazy people.

I think among the younger generation it is. Nowadays half the people at restaurants are on their cell phones and people just wanna text. That is lame. Pick up the phone people. My good friends and I still enjoy scintillating convos.

acnoyes wrote: »

findingmb wrote: »

It depends on where you are perhaps? I maybe don't have very meaningful conversations out and about but have more earnest and meaningful chats with friends in private, cosy, quarters.

I do feel like the older I get I am less interested in 'deep' chats with people just for conversations sake - I guard what I say with lots of people (probably this has something to do with work too - things can get political and I get suspicious of peoples factions). That said, the older I get the more meaningful conversations I seem to have with people I want to talk to, and have relationships with.

I guess if I think about it, it's not even a need for the conversation to be "deep" per se.

I'm just thinking, based on today and some recent history, that people don't seem to listen to each other any more. Some of it may be, as @nooshi713 says, the distraction of technology, some of it may be self-absorption (I am in California, remember), and some of it may be the fact that some people live in a little bubble and expect that whatever they say is SO important that others will just naturally listen.

But I, personally, would rather have silence than listen to someone use the word "like" incorrectly in one sentence more than 4 times before there is some kind of punctuation mark (verbally).

Damn kids these days...

That's because people would rather have an echo chamber than a conversation that might potentially challenge their views. And that's on those people as individuals.

It does not help that we live in a society (at least here in the U.S.) that really seems to punish anyone and anything that's deemed politically incorrect or somehow running against current societal norms. So if you happen to have a dissenting opinion, you often times will find that you get crucified in public conversations or just "tuned out" as soon as someone realizes they disagree with you.

We also don't really teach debate or critical thinking in schools as much as we once did, so maybe people have either forgotten how to engage or were never really trained in how to do so without getting emotional in the first place.

81Katz wrote: »

RoxieDawn wrote: »

nvm. Not looking for serious conversation.

I too like chatting with crazy people, I'm one of those crazy people.

I'm into your crazy. I'm crazy so it's all good. 😋

Riding the crazy train makes life much simpler. :laugh:

CanesGalactica wrote: »

acnoyes wrote: »

I just spent a lunch sitting in the dining area of our campus and people watched and people listened...nothing creepy, I swear...but what I overheard in brief snatches of a variety of conversations was interesting to me.

So, before diving in too deeply, is the art of conversation (meaning being engaged in the topic and having intelligent discussion) a lost art? Or am I just getting to be the jaded old man that screams, "Get off my lawn!" to the young whipersnappers of today...? Or do you even notice?

Having asked those question, I will simply state for now that a fair number of people in one-on-one conversations today seemed to spend a whole lot more time thinking about what they're going to say next, and how to sound smart saying it, than really hearing what the other person was saying...

No. You just have to search for the right people. Somehow, I have managed to find a couple of rather engaging people to have discussions with over the short course of my lifetime and I really value them as people when I get to spend time with them (we all live states apart, so that's difficult these days).

I wouldn't say a "lost art" so much as a "potentially dying art, but that is still practiced by a few".

Spending time with the handful of people that I can sit and converse with for hours is a rare treat. I love getting to know new people and would love to find more people like those few, but that’s been a struggle lately. (In non-online life, at least - I’ve been thrilled to find some here who are good conversationalists!)

AmberGlitterSparkles wrote: »

nooshi713 wrote: »

I think among the younger generation it is. Nowadays half the people at restaurants are on their cell phones and people just wanna text. That is lame. Pick up the phone people. My good friends and I still enjoy scintillating convos.

This is true. There’s a a very interesting article a few years back about a struggling restaurant. They were around many years, over recent years they were struggling to turn over tables fast enough. Customers were starting to get irritated and complained of slow service. So, they hired this company to investigate it. They installed camera everywhere watched the restaurant during opened hours. What they found out was that it was the customers that were the problem. They spent half of their seated time snapping photos and writing and posting on social media’s. I think few with out this information from an unbiased source would have wanted to admit that cell addiction was killings business.

Wow. I believe it. How sad though

I really miss being able to debate with people. People get offended so easily if you dare to disagree and put forward another point of view. The people I can debate with best are my brother, sister in law and my two nephews. Christmas is a blast. Nothing like deep drunken conversation laced with sarcasm and humour to make you use your brain cells. It took my husband a while to understand that we were not arguing we were enjoying insulting each other and challenging one another's point of view. In his defense it does get quite loud at times.

A bit off the point but confirming the power of talking on a device as opposed to in person. I saw a mother the other day walking through a crowded shopping center texting on her phone and completely ignoring her little girl of around 4 who was trailing further and further behind. Anyone could have walked off with her. It hurt my heart that her mum's texting was more important than that little girls safety in a crowded place.