WHen was the last time you had a discussion with someone "on the other side" of an issue and really listened?

Question

It is human nature to listen to an opposing view while forming your response in your head. That means that actual listening is not happening. To truly listen you have to clear your head, heart and soul. This is a challanging skill to achieve.

I read answers here based on sound bites and bumper stickers. Are we losing our ability to truely have an original thought? the ability to think for ourselves?

Answer 1

this question truly made me think about all those times im "listening" to someone all the while tryin to come up with a good comeback.we already have lost that ability a long time ago,dontcha think? we're all tryin to outdo everyone we kno most of the time,wether on purpose or not.and yes its kool to have all those snappy comebacks.but now i think maybe not so much,maybe i felt this all along u just brought it out into words.

Answer 2

Right, I see your point. Answers like that are just rhetoric. For instance, calling the war in Iraq the War on Terror just like Bush does. It is not the War on Terror, and everyone knows that (even Rumsfeld). They just vomit out what they have heard from someone else and don't even address points made in the other person's argument. Listening is definitely a part of developing original thought, and the ability to say, "you have a good point" or "you may be right, and I may be wrong" is a strong character trait.

Answer 3

i often do that and im always willing to change my mind whenever i find that the other side is more reasonable.

just recently, i had a long conversation with women in our office who are staunch supporters of gender equality and women's rights in the Philippines. i told them that in the Philippines, women's rights and gender issues are not much of an issue, and that filipino women simply followed what american women tell them without really considering its cultural context in the philippines. im not anti-feminist or anything like that, i just think the issue is so blown up in the philippines and i had my little reasons for believing so.

of course this topic is more than a bombshell. as i expected, they exploded...

more than an hour later, i found out we believed the same principles about women's rights and basically stood the same ground. i listened and was willing to change my mind.

right now, i've decided to research more on the subject.