We all know we are unique individuals, but we tend to see others as representatives of groups.

Some days you just want to get dressed and go about your business. But if you're a woman, you can't, because there is no unmarked woman.

We tend to look through language and not realize how much power language has

The argument culture urges us to approach the world - and the people in it - in an adversarial frame of mind. It rests on the assumption that opposition is the best way to get anything done: The best way to discuss an idea is to set up a debate; the best way to cover news is to find spokespeople who express the most extreme, polarized views and present them as 'both sides'; the best way to settle disputes is litigation that pits one party against the other; the best way to begin an essay is to attack someone; and the best way to show you're really thinking is to criticize.

It can be the best of relationships and the worst of relationships - often at the same time. The bond between a mother and daughter is one of the strongest, but it's also among the most complicated.

All conversation, in addition to whatever else it does, displays, and asks for recognition of, our competence.

The key to conversation at work is flexibility and understanding how what you say might be perceived by others.