Communication involves learning
Pretty much every attempt at communicating also involves learning.
The knowledge to be gained might be just a tiny tidbit, as little as, "What's at the end of this very sentence?" As trivial as that may seem, if we read, or listen, wait patiently for the end of that sentence to arrive, and attempt to comprehend it, we discover new information there. If we accept the existence of that new information, we can learn.
We don't even have to agree about the meaning of that new information. If we merely accept the existence of new information, we might learn. We might communicate.
If we are not open to the experience of learning, if we are averse to new information, how can we expect to communicate?
Communicating involves learning. It seems to me our ability to communicate is closely related to our willingness to learn.
The knowledge to be gained might be just a tiny tidbit, as little as, "What's at the end of this very sentence?" As trivial as that may seem, if we read, or listen, wait patiently for the end of that sentence to arrive, and attempt to comprehend it, we discover new information there. If we accept the existence of that new information, we can learn.
We don't even have to agree about the meaning of that new information. If we merely accept the existence of new information, we might learn. We might communicate.
If we are not open to the experience of learning, if we are averse to new information, how can we expect to communicate?
Communicating involves learning. It seems to me our ability to communicate is closely related to our willingness to learn.
2 comments:
yes. quite true. one could even turn it around a bit to determine if purported communication really occurred by asking "what have I just learned?" in this season of campaigning and persuading that might be a very useful exercise to cultivate.
Turn it around. Good thought, yes.
Thanks, GS!
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