Question

Which best summarizes the role of conversation expressed in Society and Solitude?
Conversation is a way for two people who are strangers to find out if they can share the same community.
Conversation has the power to either affirm or destroy the connections between people.
In conversation, two individuals are able to assess each other’s degree of honesty.
In conversation, people often reveal unique and quirky aspects of their personalities.

Answer 1

Conversation has the power to either affirm or destroy the connections between people.

Emerson treats conversation as the test and bond of sympathy — it confirms shared feeling and understanding or reveals incompatibility, thereby strengthening or severing social ties.