OT WE 16 SEP 26 ~ Listening
"The word 'listen' contains the same letters as the word 'silent'."
Alfred Brendel
There are several ways to appreciate the art of listening. The Chinese have an ancient
character which describes the verb “to listen”. It is an active process involving the eyes,
ears, heart and undivided attention. This goes beyond merely hearing.
Some techniques which can help the speaker express their ideas or feelings is to be
supportive in some of the following ways. Show encouragement to convey interest.
Be clarifying by asking questions. Restate to check the perceived interpretation matches
the intended expression. And finally summarize to prove you are both on the same page.
The pop culture comes up with such vagaries as “I hear ya” or “truth”. Such glib comments
perhaps shows the tendency of the younger generations' lack of attention span?
Okay then. Open thread so looking forward to "listening" to your additions.
Comments
Hiya, good morning
.
Read with some interest how Massie introduced articles of impeachment against
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Couldn't happen to a more deserving crook.
His disregard for the Constitution (and fishermen in Latin America) needs to be
called out. War Powers Act? What's that? Since Massie sits on the Judiciary
Committee, he will force a vote in the house. Will it pass? Probably not. One can hope.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/thomas-massie-introduces-article...
Zionism is a social disease
@QMS Hola, Q! That Brendel
Hola, Q! That Brendel quote grabbed my attention, It's full of wisdom, and the linguistical take on listen and silent is nothing short of brilliant. Right up my alley.
Is your casa somewhere up in New England? That Who LP and its cover pic are iconic. What a band!! Well, SCOTUS 'woke up' briefly, and threw a big monkey wrench into the FRightwingnuts' plan to blatantly steal the whole national mid-terms. I'm sure the 21st century nazis have more up their crapo, collective sleeves. Rec'd!!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Hey orlbuc
yes, we are in Southern New England (Rhode Island) near the coast.
A rural community on a peninsula keeps us isolated from the bustle of
typical Connecticut / Boston noise. It is a hike to anything resembling
commercial development which suits me just fine.
Any 'canes headed your way? Good luck!
Zionism is a social disease
Good morning...
Got out early and watered, and then mowed a bit but set the mowing deck higher than usual. If you mow grass during dry period you can kill it. By mowing high I was just catching seed heads primarily.
It was 77F at dawn, and the heat bubble is on top of us. Looks like no relief nor rain for the rest of the month. Glad we have a good well!
Listening is a skill we lack in general. I think short attention spell brought on by media has trained a generation to have minimal focus. I've done several oral history recordings. The trick is to ask an interesting question and let the person speak. You can nod, smile, and so on to show you're listening, but you need to keep your mouth shut until another question is needed as a prompt.
Hope everyone is doing well mid-week, and thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Imagine you would enjoy the sound of falling rain about now
.
oral history is an important part of learning about the past.
Last night in our writing group, a lady in her 80's recalled a
litany of episodes while growing up in the Mississippi delta.
I used the same essay in our group as here. A very good discussion
ensued. They are encouraging me to formulate a novel of sorts,
perhaps in a montage format? A worthy goal but not sure my
concentration is properly distilled yet.
Zionism is a social disease
A similar character is virtue 德
I sometimes confuse listening with virtue. The flip side of 聽 is comply, obey. The radical for listen is ear, no surprise there. In simplified the ear changes to a mouth 听.
I was surprised to hear MacGregor blow off Massie's move to impeach the minister of testosterone.
己所不欲，勿施于人。
Yes, found that conundrum while researching
obeying and listening are two distinct concepts in my mind.
Like your description of greasy Pete as the minister of testosterone.
Can trumpet surround himself with more useless sychophants?
Bessent, hogs breath and Vance are pretty lame.
Really getting tired of this spell-check feature. Only complicates things.
Zionism is a social disease
Spell-check is bad, but it's
auto-edit that really drives me nuts!
No, no hurricanes or tropical storms in the next few days. We've had a lot of Saharan desert sand in the atmosphere this storm season. Storms hate it. Considering climate change crisis, that news is good and bad. So, you are near the coast in RI. I envy you as that is a beautiful part of the East Coast.
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Great quote from Brendel
and very much worth contemplating- and passing on. Many thanks!
Comcast has the net connection for our entire neighborhood down for maintenance and improvement. It'll be back up tomorrow, or maybe the next day- who knows? So all of us who work from home have been flushed back to our offices at work (unless we're willing to put up with the slow connection offered by tethering to our cellphones).
The mass exodus from the neighborhood was impressive. I waited until the worst had passed before I hit the road- I'm still not at all comfortable with driving in the mosh pit.
And Q, just a thought. One book of which to read at least a few chapters would be Brunner's "Shockwave Rider", which everybody here knows is one of my all-time favorites by now. I bring it up because Brunner used a very interesting, explicitly conversational writing style in this work: linking anecdotes in very much a montage format, playing with the timeline, eventually piercing the fourth wall, and generally weaving a very enjoyable story- as well as being eerily accurate in his predictions of our current dystopia. Even if you don't like speculative fiction all that much, it is interesting as an example of writing style that stretches the boundaries of conventional narrative.
Worth an hour on the porch with an Adult Beverage in hand, at least to my way of thinking. And I can't wait to read your novel!
Twice bitten, permanently shy.