The art of conversation

Having a conversation can be one of the most rewarding aspects of being alive. I remember years ago discussing at a social gathering the importance and the evolution of language with a chap who turned out to be a professor in linguistics. I was captivated by the breadth of his knowledge and the intensity and love he had for his subject. Conversations like that are few and far between.
It was always my hope that I would be in the company of people who had a desire to unearth knowledge and who would excite me in their quest if only as a good listener. Of course as I write the term good listener I know that it is one of my failings not to question not to contend a point so that I could test the hypothesis. Having had a poor academic background, placed in the cul-de-sac of secondary education called a Secondary Modern School where one was parked for a few years to accommodate any the legal requirement until it was time to enter the factory and the world of jobs. I had this notion that University was a medium through which one passed and, like magnetism, one picked up a whole fund of knowledge that lay outside the specific subject you were taking. The Oxbridge debating societies comes to mind but it was this mixing of clever people who I thought, because of their cleverness would seek out each other in mutual interest through the art of conversation.
It seems I was wrong and only the "wonks" did that sort of thing.   Interestingly they seem to have included those with a political bent. I suppose speaking being one of their main, perhaps only asset.
The value of communication lies in what is said and how it is said. The use of words and coming to terms with their proper meaning is crucial but there lies the seed of many a problem.
People through custom and environment use the same word differently and because language and the meaning we derive from it is so deeply rooted in our belief system we find it hard not to feel aggrieved if someone misuses a word and therefore the concepts under lying them and we enter into conflict.
This is even more so when the language is describing a belief system, since the words take on a meaning that is endowed with the faith they have, in what ever they believe. To question the meaning or the use of a word or a description is to undermine the surety in their belief.
And so, as with so many things one must tread carefully, but not too carefully that you back off asking the question, not too carefully that you don't  query the premise. This free for all discussion is how we learn, for in every disagreement there is lodged in us a part of the argument that eventually makes sense. Shalom.