An Honest Conversation

I have noticed that when I observe a group of strangers talk to each other, they are able to maintain polite conversation pretty simply. You often hear the same benign topics being discussed, the weather, some local event, some historical event, or just some random musing. These conversations tend to exhaust themselves and then the people move on.
But once in a while, you might observe a conversation that gets beyond the superficial, where the topics are more divisive. And often the tone will...