Open to debate?

I'm lucky.

I still have a circle of friends and conspirators who've remained curious. They're open to sharing through discussions. Conversationalists.

Genuine conversations have become things to celebrate by their rarity, though.

Too many exchanges feel more like manoeuvres built on positioning statements. You know, people only appearing to listen. Genuine conversations are different; they happen with caring people who actually want to see what you think.

These are people mature enough to stop and think.

Dialogue will pause because either party says something that changes the other's mind. They regard disagreement as the interesting bit, not the awkward bit. They naturally assume you might know something they don't.

The conversationalists never deliver monologues. They are artful and can put forward a provocation, then enjoy the to-and-fro because they know the value lies right there.

The 'manoeuvrers', who have perfected their monologues, believe they are unassailable because of their act.

They don't realise that their victims experience the opposite because of their lack of conversational empathy.

Conversationalists make you sharper because they take you seriously. There's a joy in wanting to be in conversations with them. They aren't bothered about your credentials, but your actual thinking. They delight in a half-formed idea and never set out to demolish it, but to see if there's something worth adding to it.

I always leave these conversations expanded. My world is the better for it because they've pushed against mine and made it bigger.

I don't know if we stopped being curious or have been beaten down by the 'manoeuvrers'.

But the conversationalists are still out there. Just harder to find.

Discuss?