When thousands of campers are congregated in a town like Quartzsite, and have the opportunity for campfires and conversation, it would be nice to believe that it leads to better conversations than usual. But maybe that is just primal-ism and romanticism.
The retrogrouch in me yearns for conversations in olden times, when there was more formality and a tighter consensus about the rules of proper behavior. Come on now, admit it, don't you feel a little of that when you watch the polite rituals in the movies called historical 'costume dramas?' But the standards of yore haven't survived a couple hundred years of democratic leveling.
But maybe this presents an opportunity to reconstruct rules of conversation from a blank piece of paper. And this time, we will do it right. Shouldn't the aim of conversation be good will, a bit of entertainment, and subtle education? If we get good at this, we can enjoy full-bodied conversation about non-trivial subjects. Imagine conversations that make us go away feeling consciously grateful that our distant ancestors developed human speech. (and a brain to run it all.)
And yet, civilized conversation is undermined by bad habits and muddy ideas. We can all recognize our own shortcomings in the following list. But I am here to tell you that progress and improvement are possible, and will give an example at the end.
1. Old men and their long-winded stories.
2. The Frustrated Comedian/Entertainer. Wearying people with your wit. Essay by Swift.
3. The Frustrated Lawyer or Theologian. Talking for victory.
4. The Quibbler (aka, a frustrated mathematician or theologian.) Interrupting the other person's point by quibbling over details.
5. The Chronic Contradictor.
6. The Frustrated Psychologist/Social Worker. She blasts you with her mental probe beam from Star Trek. And she wasn't even invited into your head!
7. The Frustrated Scholar (aka, the know-it-all who can't keep his big trap shut.) You know the type.
I already discussed some of these topics in a previous essay. So I will finish this post next time by keeping some of the items above as mere bullet points. Still, this post is turning into a book, and I run the risk of showing too much #1 and #7. So let's finish this another day.
The retrogrouch in me yearns for conversations in olden times, when there was more formality and a tighter consensus about the rules of proper behavior. Come on now, admit it, don't you feel a little of that when you watch the polite rituals in the movies called historical 'costume dramas?' But the standards of yore haven't survived a couple hundred years of democratic leveling.
But maybe this presents an opportunity to reconstruct rules of conversation from a blank piece of paper. And this time, we will do it right. Shouldn't the aim of conversation be good will, a bit of entertainment, and subtle education? If we get good at this, we can enjoy full-bodied conversation about non-trivial subjects. Imagine conversations that make us go away feeling consciously grateful that our distant ancestors developed human speech. (and a brain to run it all.)
And yet, civilized conversation is undermined by bad habits and muddy ideas. We can all recognize our own shortcomings in the following list. But I am here to tell you that progress and improvement are possible, and will give an example at the end.
1. Old men and their long-winded stories.
2. The Frustrated Comedian/Entertainer. Wearying people with your wit. Essay by Swift.
3. The Frustrated Lawyer or Theologian. Talking for victory.
4. The Quibbler (aka, a frustrated mathematician or theologian.) Interrupting the other person's point by quibbling over details.
5. The Chronic Contradictor.
6. The Frustrated Psychologist/Social Worker. She blasts you with her mental probe beam from Star Trek. And she wasn't even invited into your head!
7. The Frustrated Scholar (aka, the know-it-all who can't keep his big trap shut.) You know the type.
I already discussed some of these topics in a previous essay. So I will finish this post next time by keeping some of the items above as mere bullet points. Still, this post is turning into a book, and I run the risk of showing too much #1 and #7. So let's finish this another day.
Comments
But I see what you mean about the transient nature of the group being a limiting factor.
The RV industry has made it so easy to be an "RV camper" that there is nothing special about them. They are common suburbanites, standard retirees, and bar-coded mass tourists, with all the Good and the Bad that goes along with that.
I would add a #8 The One Upper.
WHATEVER you've have done/seen/experienced they have done/seen/experienced better.
My patience is thin with this type as I try to distance myself from them as quickly as possible.
I never thought about #8-s. But maybe they are a sub-category of #3: Talking for Victory. (oops...)
How is that going to end?
I think the reform you would like to see, the one you dream of is no longer possible. Maybe they need an "app" for that??? LOL
Also have to say that "Where ya from" offers some of the most interesting answers. There is a wealth of good stuff in why people like or don't like where they're from, from the cultural/social aspects to the weather.
Perhaps I am too quick to conclude from a trite beginning that the conversation will REMAIN in trite topics.