The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

• This week’s question: Why does silence feel so horribly awkward?

I can’t be the only person who has become deeply distrustful of “ripen at home” fruit and veg. I’ve tried many varieties – peaches, pears, avocados – but either they stay rock-hard for weeks or they turn overnight and I find them oozing in the fruit bowl. When and how did we start having to pay extra for produce we can actually eat? Graeme McIntyre, Edinburgh

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