roundtable talk
A roundtable talk is a ritual of presenting equality around a circular table while everyone silently competes for airtime. Participants proclaim dialogue yet secretly gauge the mood and suppress each other’s viewpoints. The true aim is the painstaking reiteration of inconclusive debate. With serious faces they seek agreement even as they nurture their next argument in private. Once it ends, only the minutes remain, and both meaning and accountability vanish.