Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1933-07-19
learn MUCH BY
Word OF MOUTH
EDUCATION in ~Commingling
of Conversationalists.

II the school of life conversation
is beadmaster. Reading may widen
the ambit of experience, but who
evei cares to know how large a part
of lis knowledge zones by word OF
mouth can find out by trying to write
down verbatim two or three hours OF
Lively talk.
Tie $4,000 granted from the
Carnegie foundation to cultivate pub
lie conversation Is money well spent
Not that the project goes by any
such name. 1t is called a system OF
forums for men and women held In
"a public schools of Des Moines, an
informal lecturer speaking for the
first half-hour to present fact mate
rial requisite for an Informal dis
cusslon. after which the audience
takes part. The aim Is educational
No attempt Is made to convert. Top
les range from agricultural debts &c
the Japanese In Manchuria. Attend
snce was large and discussions cour.
teous. 1t is expected this practice
VIII s%pread-a school In which de-
mocracy lnstructs itself by the art OF
conversation.
Good conversation is, like an hon
est God. the noblest work of man
n fine art and u rarity. That diff
cult areform, the drama, liz CONVEX
sation overheard-difficult because
1t must tell a story within time linn
Its, which presupposes a unity In
events which actual life seldom II
ever has. This unity the artist must
invent. Then should conversation
likewise be steered? Too evident
steering spells the sport. No, II
should be allowed to follow the ball
This requires a taclt connivance
amongst the players TO take what
comes, a kind of improvised orches
tration In which each Instrumental
LIST is content to play or be silent az
desired. There Is of course. a spe>
cies Of "noninterventlonist" guidance
which consists In keeping onf
thought ahead of the topic. as y
player or singer reading music at
first sight keeps eyes a measure or
several measures ahead of his hande
or voice; but even so he must rec
onciie himself to letting good topics
go over the dam for the sake OF
maintaining the stream In flow, al.
though by keeping mental notes he
can, II the talk thins. thlcken 1t BY
up q phrase or an idea from
the back eddies.
How seldom 1t is that, mt a large
table or ffreside, conversation does
not split into threes or twos. The
ro0mfuls or even the hearthside
group, which inverse as a unit. II
this does not argue formal pre-ar
rangement to discuss a given theme
else the presence of some power
fully shared intellectual interest
does argue a high degree of general
and Is so unusual as te
something like a social triumph
The conversational artist can be
Identified by his willingness to sinh
ais ego, like an actor, a musician or
1 dancer. The personality is still
here, but only as a vehicle for ideas
iroup conversation best thrives
when i%mpersonal. Dispute Is peril
'us and heated dispute fatal. When
argument stalks In, truth stalks out
instead of being a c%ollaboratiye pro
Iuction Of Ideas, the talk becomes n
nere wrangle between opposing
ounsel. We might as well adjourn
0 a court of law and be done With
For argument attempts to bound
ne universe by a single Intellect
ut discussion is an effort to free
ne intellect for ranging the uni
erse.-Boston Globe.