Luring Alex to lunch

Here is my side of the conversation:

"Alex, will you come to lunch with us?

Busy? (scornfully).  Doing what?

You write articles so that people will read them, no?

How many people read one of your articles?

That’s not bad.  But how much time does it take to write the article?

If it is so good that articles are read, why not read another article instead of writing one? Surely not only your articles are worthy of being read. 

Reading a good article is so much easier and quicker than writing one.

So you admit my point.  You oversupply the writing of articles, relative to a general  undersupply of the reading of articles.  The same might be said of academia in general.

And surely, Glaucon, we should correct institutional failures, no?

Now let me ask you — going to lunch, and talking with us — is it more like writing an article or reading an article?

That’s what I thought."

The chicken tikka was delicious.