Avoiding the Blathering Mob

 A FRIEND OF MINE, a fellow college instructor, has, like I, been forced to take his classes online. He spends his time alone at home, using his personal computer to post lectures, give assignments, administer tests, monitor student's progress, and assign grades. he says he misses being in class with his students, misses the more personal interaction, and considers online instruction something of a loss, a compromise. I know how he feels.he says, on the other hand, that not only has he made peace with Covid 19 self quarantining, he has actually learned to embrace and enjoy it. Again, i know how he feels.Our empathy extends even further. he and I are both approaching the end of our careers, in fact I formally retired several years ago, and my friend says that when he does finally retire, fairly soon, that he is strongly considering eschewing any sort of active social life, in favor of a life of quiet, pleasant solitude. A quite life of contemplation and art, of cherishing natural beauty, the simple those long quite hours alone with the self, reflecting, learning from within. Time spent alone outdoors, maybe with a few animal friends. Again, I know how he feels. talk has always been cheap, but never cheaper than now, in out age of social media. Twenty years ago, when AOL ruled the internet and social media consisted of chat rooms, I noticed how easy it was to hide behind a computer screen and spew nonsense and angry insults into  cyber space. Facebook replaced chat rooms, wit much the same result. I tried an experiment. Anytime anybody on Facebook started a conversation with me, I tell the person that I do not have conversation on a computer screen, that I much prefer face to face interaction, or, failing that, that I am willing to talk on the telephone, so that we can at least hear each other's voices, and say more than a few typewritten words. I have send out my home address and phone number to old friends, and to people I scarcely know, and have only recently met on Facebook itself. Nobody has ever called me or come by to visit. They are all perfectly willing to sit in front of their screens, and type words into messenger, but voice to voice or face to face conversation simply isn't worth the effort it takes. Neither am I willing to engage in conversations using email. Too slow. Too impersonal. None of that, however, addresses the essential, central problem of the blather. Does anybody who was born in the United States ever talk about anything other than himself, herself, or some insane conspiracy theory?