This is the opposite end of the spectrum: everything is said, typed, and logged. “I feel X because of Y, and I expect Z in return.”
We use this form at work, in arguments, and on social media. It’s the world of “I statements,” performance reviews, and those long text chains where you accidentally start a fight because you forgot a period at the end of a sentence.
Sound familiar? It’s exhausting, but we also think it’s the only way to be “clear.”
The trap of endless talk
The problem is that words can lie—or worse, they can be misread. Your boss says, “No rush,” but the email tone says, “I will fire you if you’re late.” The subtext becomes a full-time job.
I once watched a couple argue for forty minutes over a text message that said “k.” Just the letter K. No. They didn’t have a relationship problem. They had a word problem.
And yet, we’ve been trained to believe that if we don’t say something aloud, it doesn’t “count.” We’ve made silence the enemy.
