Are there different levels to listening?

Question

When you listen to nature or to a person or a child, etc.
can you listen with more than just your ears?

You hear with your ears but is true listening more a listening with all of your being, so to speak?

curious for opinions........

(Have a nice weekend, people!)

Answer 1

sometimes its like you cannot listen sound that others can hear...

your heart & soul are great receptors of sound...

so are your ears, if they do not need a hearing device! lol

Answer 2

Listening isn't unlike an image that is reflected on a mirror. The dustier the surface.........We do have a choice to take in what is most desirable or useful to us at a given moment, so it seems like a pretty selective process to me, therefore the levels do vary from one to another depending upon ones openness and acceptance towards new information. Often we just refuse to listen because the ground we stand on is shaky, to listen is to renegotiate our position no matter how miniscule the issue is ,and that my freind usually means trouble :-)
As for listening with our whole being, geez i think that's kinda an uncommon capability, i certainly don't possess it. My guess is if someone is more in tune with their subconcious mind or heart etc then naturally the only way to listen is listening deeply regardless of the quality of the input. But surely there is a diffrence,...it sort of boils down to how much patience you have somehow.

Answer 3

Yes, we listen on different levels, I think. We listen intently to those we truly respect, sometimes clinging to every word. But to someone we disrespect, we listen sarcastically, or don't pay much attention at all. To a child, we listen with much attention, but we don't tend to take some of their comments very seriously. For example, if a child says, "You look funny," we may not be as offended as if an adult said the very same thing to us.

Very often when someone says something offensive, we'll brush it off by saying, "Oh that's just so-and-so talking." So we don't put much stock in what some people say.

Answer 4

there are very many different levels of listening, did you know that a woman/female can listen independently with each ear and her brain will process the two distinct sounds, it is an evolution ability that the majority of women do unconsciously, i personally like most men have very selective hearing, i hear only what i want, according to my wife, people who are born deaf have heighten sensory development
touch feel smell etc, because we use our eyes to hear as well as to see, IE lip reading, the blind man will almost sense his way around an object, before the cane touches the obstruction, when you attune your self to nature,at one with your environment, again we go back to the sensory alertness ,your brain will unconsciously alert you to an alien sound or danger,hairs on the back of the neck,hair follicles blood supply being restricted cause the muscles to constrict causing the hair to stand upright, evolutionary response to fight or flight, in a dangerous situation.my wife and probably millions of women are able to pick up a bad atmosphere on entering a room and not hearing anything, where i will miss it completely so the answer i believe is yes, regards LF

Answer 5

There's active listening, when you fully engage the speaker ... There's pretending to listen, when you read your menu while the other person is talking ... or make your shopping list ...

And, of course, selective listening, when your mind tunes in and out, based on what you want to hear ...

Then there's the actual ear drum, what's left of it ... And sometimes that can allow for listening, depending on the damage ...

Answer 6

I listen as much with my heart, as I do with my ears, Linty. I think that's why music touches me so deeply at times. The same thing applies to listening to people that I love, patients who are in pain (both physically and emotionally), and to nature. :)

If I were to only listen with my ears, I think that I would really be missing out!! We can certainly hear with your ears, but it's very limited I think. The ears and the heart working together, make listeing a much more profound experience, at least to me.

Answer 7

There is listening and then there is hearing. Listening for meaning and intent is different than just listening for enjoyment. Listening to a person tell you their problems requires total concentration while listening to the latest gossip requires only minimal effort.

Answer 8

Hey Linty,

Yes there are different levels to listening. This is a progression, not the only one, but logical:
- Listen but not hear.
- Listen but not comprehend.
- Listen and understand but not remember.
- Listen, remember, able to recall.

Try the web sites also shown below.

Answer 9

Yes I would have to say that you can listen with your other sense. That one deep in your mind that feels everything and is aware of everything. Did you ever have that feeling like someone was behind you or around you and you looked to see and there WAS someone there but you never heard them or saw them coming? You only "sensed" them. It's like your body has a limited kind sonar. Stronger in some people than others but it's there.

Answer 10

I think that's a brilliant question.

- Listening is not just using your ears, but using your eyes to express your attitude as the other speaks, expression through body language, but most of all using your cervical processing capacity to remember, recall and reiterate