In Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, we meet a strange group called the Laputans, who are the ruling elite in their country. They have decided that actually talking with one another takes too much effort, so they carry around sacks filled with symbols that they just flash at each other when they meet. “I have often beheld two of these sages,” says Gulliver, “who open their sacks, and hold conversation for an hour together, then put up their implements and take their leave.” Of course, Swift was making fun of government and business leaders who toss out the same stale talking points over and over as substitutes for authentic communication.

– The 3rd Alternative: Solving Life’s Most Difficult Problems by Stephen R. Covey