People need to understand the usefulness, the stress relief, that comes from a good ramble.

"It's a planet, one that used to be inhabited but is now a wasteland. I wound up there for the better part of half a year." He doesn't need to know the exact number of hours, does he?

"Fifty-two other Earths? Did you make a study of any of them, learn the differences between them?"

Nothing can ease the stress of being a new place than talking scientific theories or studies, can it?