Decoding the Rules of
Conversation
By Pamela Druckerman
Ms. Druckerman’s essay resonates at two levels.
At the most basic, she is an unusually intelligent person, a
gifted writer and, I would speculate, a very pleasant person to be around.
In a world with billions of people, it’s not surprising that
a few individuals such as Ms. Druckerman surface.
At another level, however, she reveals something even more
important than the well known phenomenon of cream rising to the top.
Talented people who are also multilingual and multicultural
see things the rest of us don’t. They perceive edges and refractions that
aren’t apparent from the perspective of the uni-cultural.
Why does that matter?
Multicultural people help us pause and realize that what we
think are natural and logical conclusions aren’t necessarily so. Even if we
lack the insight of people who combine special intellectual abilities with
multiple perspectives , we can—or at least we should—appreciate from their observations
that our reactions to events in far away places ought to be more careful and
measured than we might otherwise think necessary.
Viva Pamela Druckerman.
