07/06/2026
Before you speak, decide what kind of conversation you're in.
What's the point of a conversation?
To win?
To persuade?
To vent?
To connect?
To learn?
Maybe all of the above, depending on the moment.
The question I've found even more useful is this:
What role am I playing—and what role should I play—in this conversation?
Not every conversation calls for the same approach.
Sometimes we're the teacher.
Sometimes we're the student.
Sometimes we're two people bringing different pieces of the puzzle to the table.
Sometimes neither of us knows enough yet, and our job is simply to become better investigators together.
Who has spent years researching the topic?
Who understands not only the details, but also the broader landscape?
Who can explain the strongest arguments on both sides?
Who can speak not only about what happened...
..or what's happening now...
..but also what we might thoughtfully try next?
Those are different levels of preparation.
Different leagues of thinking.
They deserve different kinds of conversations.
That's one of the ideas behind my newest Approaching Life article. If it resonates, I'd love for you to give it a read - and I'm curious whether you've ever found yourself realizing halfway through a conversation that you and the other person weren't actually having the same conversation.
The article is one piece of a larger body of work I've been building through Approaching Life—practical frameworks for navigating complexity with greater awareness, stronger communication, and more intentional action. Alongside it, The Debates serves as a public forum to pressure test ideas, examine the strongest arguments on every side, and think more intelligently about what comes next.
If any of this resonates, I'd love for you to read the full article. More importantly, I'd love to hear where you agree, where you disagree, if any conversations have changed the way you think.
Articles, Frameworks, Paradigms, and conversations about narratives - how we think, debate, and move forward.
