The text discusses the challenges of dealing with sparse data in relational databases, where a minority of tables hold most of the data, and the rest are mostly empty. The author suggests that instead of rearranging the schema or switching to a NoSQL system, a more practical approach is to use a SQL database with a native JSON column type, which allows for flexible storage of sparse attributes without altering the underlying schema. This hybrid table model enables efficient handling of sparseness while still allowing for standard relational query operations. By using a JSON column, users can store and query sparse data in a way that complements dense columns, making it easier to manage and maintain their database.