great conversation! if the science of conversational turn-taking holds any further interest, I actually wrote a thing on it some time ago. Agnes was quite complimentary of the piece :) https://x.com/agnescallard/status/1882892264663646710?s=46
I have heard of this relatively recent phenomenon of students not wanting to read very much. I suppose students can refuse or wish for shorter reading assignments, but if their professors demand they read more and make their grades dependent upon it, wouldn’t they read more? Or has the educational system completely caved to the student as consumer mentality?
Also, epiphanies generally are not divorced from some length of time and that is why they happen later in life. As one who has experienced an epiphany, I believe it happens while looking back on a sizable chunk of one’s life. One must be to a great degree outside of the event to see it clearly.
Western novelists often seem to be screaming, “I am lost!” But after WWI, the old sense of ease—once provided by a Christian balm—no longer applied. Perhaps Greek philosophy, taken out of context, has been misapplied to a world it was never meant to serve.
For conversation to truly convey philosophy, four key elements must be present: epiphany, argument, story, and the medium of exchange (text/oral).
Argument, when properly contextualized, is delivered through voice* to inspire epiphany. (*The Greeks, rooted in oral tradition, saw conversation as “speaker and what is uttered,” implying listening as an inherent part of the exchange—one can be both speaker and listener when in dialogue with oneself.)
But epiphanies alone aren’t enough. They must be applied to life, experienced, and tested. Only then does understanding emerge—transforming argument into personal testimony, which becomes a story to be shared alongside the original idea.
The real issue today? Most conversations lack all four elements, making connection between participants weaker. That, and the failure to apply insight. Epiphanies are beautiful, but true change only comes when one allows transformation to take root.
This was a great conversation.
great conversation! if the science of conversational turn-taking holds any further interest, I actually wrote a thing on it some time ago. Agnes was quite complimentary of the piece :) https://x.com/agnescallard/status/1882892264663646710?s=46
I have heard of this relatively recent phenomenon of students not wanting to read very much. I suppose students can refuse or wish for shorter reading assignments, but if their professors demand they read more and make their grades dependent upon it, wouldn’t they read more? Or has the educational system completely caved to the student as consumer mentality?
Also, epiphanies generally are not divorced from some length of time and that is why they happen later in life. As one who has experienced an epiphany, I believe it happens while looking back on a sizable chunk of one’s life. One must be to a great degree outside of the event to see it clearly.
Western novelists often seem to be screaming, “I am lost!” But after WWI, the old sense of ease—once provided by a Christian balm—no longer applied. Perhaps Greek philosophy, taken out of context, has been misapplied to a world it was never meant to serve.
For conversation to truly convey philosophy, four key elements must be present: epiphany, argument, story, and the medium of exchange (text/oral).
Argument, when properly contextualized, is delivered through voice* to inspire epiphany. (*The Greeks, rooted in oral tradition, saw conversation as “speaker and what is uttered,” implying listening as an inherent part of the exchange—one can be both speaker and listener when in dialogue with oneself.)
But epiphanies alone aren’t enough. They must be applied to life, experienced, and tested. Only then does understanding emerge—transforming argument into personal testimony, which becomes a story to be shared alongside the original idea.
The real issue today? Most conversations lack all four elements, making connection between participants weaker. That, and the failure to apply insight. Epiphanies are beautiful, but true change only comes when one allows transformation to take root.