Having a conversation is like going to a water park.
On one end, we have the play pool where all the small talk happens and people get to know each other. Here, no one is ready to venture into deeper waters yet.
On the other end of the water park exists the dive tank. This is where the intellectuals reside. They always try to impress each other with their knowledge of philosophy, history, politics and the arts.
In between the two are the waterslides. The discussions here are full of jokes and anecdotes. This is a favorite of patrons because they always have a smile on their face.
We cannot forget the lap lanes. This is where the great orators like to exercise. They give their speeches and compete to see who is the most eloquent.
Clearly, we have many different areas to choose from in this water park. It seems, though, that this water park is going bankrupt. It doesn’t get many visitors ,even though it has heated pools and is open year round. With all these amenities, people are obviously missing out.
Sadly, it may remain this way.
So much technology exists that it drives us apart more than it brings us together. People do not converse face to face anymore — or visit the water park, if you prefer that analogy. Instead, we choose to communicate through text messages, e-mails and Facebook chat. We seem to have lost realization that conversation is both important and fun.
Human interaction — not Facebook or texting interaction — is important because it is part of who we are. We feel complete after talking to an old friend or meeting someone new. This feeling is something that technology cannot replicate.
The Uplift Program, an organization that helps treat people with depression, advocates healing through relationships with partners and other pieces of a supportive social network — co-workers, teachers, etc. They also say it helps prevent isolation and loneliness.
Chatting with friends and family certainly has health effects, but it should not be a chore. The greatest thing about conversation is that it comes in many forms.
“Conversation is, among other things, a mind-reading game and a puzzle. We constantly have to guess why others say what they do. We can never be sure when words will dance with each other, opinions caress, imaginations undress, topics open,” writes Theodore Zeldin in his book “Conversations: How Talk Can Change Our Lives.”
There are many intricacies of conversation that go unexplored because we lack the interaction needed. We never know how valuable these unexplored avenues may be or how far they can take us. That is half the fun of conversing; we can let our words and topics chauffeur us around the unknown parts of town.
It is very easy to be reserved in college, to be the person who goes to class and does not speak a word. This is especially true at a university of more than 60,000 students. We must fight the urge to become another face and stand out. There is by no means a shortage of people at ASU for us to meet.
Before this water park goes under, I recommend it to everyone. There is something for all. There are plenty of lifeguards on duty; they will rescue you from awkward sayings and gaffes. The best part of all is that there is no admission. Hopefully that will encourage some.
For now, it seems people are afraid to visit the water park because the pools will fry their Blackberrys or laptops.
Reach Andrew at andrew.hedlund@asu.edu.
