On today's chat with Iacobius:
It appears to me that one ought to embrace moments of silence during conversation. The spontaneity of one's thoughts should not be expected to perfectly circumscribe the time spent with a friend. In fact, the expectation of uninterrupted repartee instead leads to the degradation of the ideas being exchanged.
Gentleman, I encourage you to permit the natural wandering of your mind, even should it result in a deadening silence. Resist the temptation to fill that void! And I hope you shall discover an unexplored depth to the ideas which you hold in your mind, much like stones in a garden, which when overturned reveal an ecosystem teeming with life.
Your friend, Davidus