The Last Resort
I am frequently appalled by the poor quality of interpersonal communication that abounds.
People seem to study everything elseĀ in the galaxy, but only infrequently how to connect with each other.Ā
Also, everyone believes they are a "good communicator," just as everyone thinks they are a "good listener," and "above average" in most things. Actually, we are terrible at most things. And then we have our gifts, which we hopefully parlay and leverage. And our value as human beings is based on none of this anyway.
And communication is fiendishly unnatural. I don't mean emitting recognizable sounds in a shared language. I mean packaging thoughts, observations, impressions and emotions and conveying them with their needed depth, breadth and nuance.Ā
And then there's hearingĀ complexĀ communications , listening to what is said and what isn't said, being alert to tone, inflection and word choice, andĀ observing body language ā this is an often mystifying brew.
As a last resort, when we have exhausted every other expedient,Ā it seems we may deign to "try" to communicate. And the best tip IĀ can offer is to be open, to be willing, to explore, to practice, toĀ read widely and aim to think and feel deeply, to check and test assumptions, and be committed to genuine mutual exploration.
Without exaggeration, our fateĀ commercially, personally, politically, and perhaps even as a human society, hinges on us doing this: on learning, however imperfectly, to understand, connect with, ally with, collaborate constructively with, affirm, and in concert, magnify our shared value.