But what usually goes unmentioned is a more important distinction: single-table conversations rarely take place in Britain. I first realized this when I started attending dinners with friends in London a few years ago, while visiting from New York: when I was trying to start a only conversation, I was told to stop because it was “too serious”.
There are several reasons for this, here is one;
In Britain, however, hustle is not so easily admired and ambition is sometimes ridiculed as arrogant or show-off. So if you are brilliantly intelligent, you are admired for hiding the fact or making jokes about it at your own expense. Few Britons stand up in public and shout that they want to become public intellectuals; or not without a self-deprecating laugh.
The entire FT column is interesting, note that Tett’s background is in anthropology.
