Moats

Remember moats? They are architectural designs you rarely see added to new houses or structures any more today. Of course, in their time, which began approximately one-thousand years ago, they used to be quite popular, particularly as applied to castles. Moats would be built around the castles as a way of helping make it more difficult for any invaders from invading or storming the place where the ruler and his or her people lived. They were also designed to make it harder for folks to leave the castle. On both accounts, the moats worked pretty well as they remain "in-style" throughout Asia, Europe and even Africa for hundreds of years.

While moats as we know them are not being built these days, they very much exist. When it comes to communication, moats are used by many. They are devices geared to protect all who communicate from criticism, debate or disagreement. One form of moats today is known as "small talk." Such interaction usually revolves around the weather or kids or traffic or an array of so-called safe topics on which everyone feels free to comment without fear of heated exchange. The result is interaction with little commitment. We interact with another without investing ourselves any more then is necessary.

I confess to being a small-talker on a regular basis. But this is a fact in which I take little pride. Moats as they apply to communication are little more than a charade, a shadow conversation in which the participants go through the motion of conversation without actually having one that comes close to having any meaning. To be fair, small-talk does have its place. At the same time, I am not a fan. Much like the moats of a thousand years ago, I do not think it would be a bad thing if we stopped relying upon them to protect ourselves from either making or attempting to make a genuine connection with another.