The Delightful Art of Conversation
How Dialogue Demystifies Disinformation
Infophilia, a Positive Psychology of Information | March 1, 2025 | Vol. 3, Issue 10
✨Welcome to Infophilia, a weekly letter exploring how our love of information and connections can help us all thrive, individually and collectively. 🤗
Cite as: Coleman, Anita S. (2025, March 1). The delightful art of conversation: how dialogue demystifies disinformation. Infophilia, a positive psychology of information, 3 (10).
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The Delightful Art of Conversation
How Dialogue Demystifies Disinformation
A conversation is so much more than words: a conversation is eyes, smiles, the silences between the words. — Annika Thor
Conversation and dialogue are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Conversation is the broad, impromptu exchange of words. Dialogue implies a deeper, more intentional engagement, fostering understanding, challenging assumptions, and building connections. In these times of overload and disinformation, the art of conversation is more than just social skill; it’s a tool for clarity and discernment. Through dialogue, we can go beyond exchanging facts; we can co-create meaning, embrace complexity, and demystify misleading narratives. In this essay, I share how the delights of authentic conversation, with its openness and reciprocity, can evolve into dialogue, one of our strongest defenses against the spread of disinformation.
The art of conversation is not dead. During my recent travels, while it remains uncommon for strangers to engage with one another, I discovered some exceptions. My seatmates on both flights proved to be thoughtful conversationalists, with the second encounter standing out as particularly meaningful—a discussion with a 30-something commercial pilot about Yuval Harari's Nexus: A brief history of information networks from the Stone Age to AI. Our conversation traversed some of the themes I've been recently exploring here. Significantly, our exchange reinforced the vital role dialogue and (reading too!) plays in demystifying disinformation.
His story echoes a familiar American narrative, particularly representative of modern millennial Midwesterners with complex social identities, even when they are ascribed as “white” or “male”—a pattern I've frequently encountered. "I did my best," he confessed, "but I am powerless too."
Throughout his childhood, college was presented not as an option but as an expectation—the quintessential American path. He dutifully enrolled, only to withdraw after two semesters. College had failed to provide direction. He became involved with a subculture that pulled him into online extremism. Had it not been for a family member—connecting often, gently guiding—he’d still be in that world today.