If our age is rich in anything, it is, one would think (wrongly), rich in things to talk about. How can anyone nowadays be at a loss for words? What excuse is there for awkward silence? The merest glance at a newspaper furnishes conversational fodder for a lifetime — reminding us, if anyone is in danger of forgetting, that we are living two extremes at once: the superhuman technological empowerment of humankind, and the potential destruction of the planet. The first may defeat the second, or it may hasten it. Anyway, that famous purportedly ancient Chinese curse — "May you live in interesting times" — is undoubtedly upon us. Can it have robbed us of the power of speech?

The weekly Shukan Post tells this story: A trading company executive and one of his subordinates were drinking with a client one evening, the young subordinate keeping respectfully quiet while the executive engaged the client in conversation. The executive's phone rang. He excused himself and attended to the call. Ten minutes later he returned to find the subordinate and the client sitting in dead silence, staring down at the table in the profoundest discomfort.

"Why didn't you talk to him?" the executive demanded afterwards.