We have sacrificed conversation for mere connection. At work, at home, in politics, and in love, we find ways around conversation, tempted by the possibilities of a text or an email in which we don’t have to reveal ourselves. We must turn back to solitude and self-reflection. Afraid of being alone, we rely on other people to give us a sense of ourselves, and our capacity for empathy and relationship suffers. Without conversation, there can be no genuine connection. If there is no syntax, no literacy, no interpersonal collaboration, there is no humanity.