Effective communication is vital to human relationships and the art of listening is its key component. While we admire those who can express their ideas in efficient or creative ways, communication is a two-way street and an attentive listener is equally important.
Too often, we humans equate communication with debate. But debate is all about winning an argument and the debater listens just enough to formulate his or her counterattack. Waiting to pounce on their opponent, the debater only gleans the highlights of the points that are made.
Unfortunately, most humans are more comfortable being the speaker than the listener. Intimately connected to their own ideas, beliefs and experience, they easily become disinterested (if not bored) with the stories or reasoned arguments of others. The art of listening is the ability to stay engaged, focusing on what is being said (without prejudgment) and willing to fully consider the views of the speaker. If we all adopted that art, human communication would be greatly improved and the spectrum of intellectual logjams, such as the one that stymies the U.S. Congress, would be cleared from the paths of personal growth and human progress.
Too often, we humans equate communication with debate. But debate is all about winning an argument and the debater listens just enough to formulate his or her counterattack. Waiting to pounce on their opponent, the debater only gleans the highlights of the points that are made.
Unfortunately, most humans are more comfortable being the speaker than the listener. Intimately connected to their own ideas, beliefs and experience, they easily become disinterested (if not bored) with the stories or reasoned arguments of others. The art of listening is the ability to stay engaged, focusing on what is being said (without prejudgment) and willing to fully consider the views of the speaker. If we all adopted that art, human communication would be greatly improved and the spectrum of intellectual logjams, such as the one that stymies the U.S. Congress, would be cleared from the paths of personal growth and human progress.
