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Let’s Get Meta: A Conversation About Conversations

February 21, 2021 at 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm EST

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Fellow Interintellect Vidhika Bansal invites you to chat about the art and science of conversation — across mediums, cultures, and contexts

Conversations happen on so many different continuums: from eagerly anticipated ones to outright dreaded ones, synchronous to asynchronous, planned to impromptu, familiar to foreign, brief to lengthy, one-on-one to in groups, regular to sporadic, IRL to text-based. They span from the trivial exchanges we can barely recall ten seconds later to the transformational ones that can change the trajectories of our lives — and everything in between. The permutations, combinations, and possibilities feel endless.

But what are the different factors at play that can make or break a conversation? Why are no two conversations — no matter how similar — ever truly the same? What makes the ii the perfect home for “the most interesting conversations on the internet”?

Some of the questions we might explore:

What is a conversation, really? Does a conversation need words, or even two people? Do conversations with ourselves, our pets, inanimate objects count?
When does it make sense to engage in small vs. medium vs. big talk? When is silence golden and when is it just awkward? What’s the right mix of each?
What makes a conversation good? Unforgettable? Insufferable? How much of this is mechanics and how much of it is dynamics?
How do conversations differ across platforms and mediums? How have more recent trends like emojis transformed the realm of conversation as we know it?
How do they differ across contexts and cultures? What role do things like power dynamics, intimacy, language barriers, and neurodiversity play?
We “smile with our eyes” and “we talk with our hands” — what role do our bodies play in the conversations we have?

Can’t wait to join you in conversation soon and hear your perspectives and insights!

– ii Salon Host Vidhika Bansal

Good to read and watch pre-Salon: