I had the opportunity to participate in both a focus group and a pilot discussion program recently. In both situations, the facilitator was seeking information about a given topic in a controlled setting, but the latter experience had an additional component, a focus on civil discourse, no matter how difficult the topic. In today's society, I feel that we've moved disturbingly away from the ability to share views without it becoming a shouting match. One voice grows louder than the other. Interrupting the other person's thought without regard or respect for his or her perspective is becoming the norm, not the intolerable exception. I've witnessed this sad state of communication in our politics and experienced it in our media, and now such uncivil discourse seems to have oozed into everyday encounters between families, friends and neighbors. The pilot program was a refreshing way to bring back the age-old art of conversation, sitting around a table for a couple of hours where discussion is free from interruption of television, telephones and texts. By listening carefully and then respectfully replying I was reminded of how enlightening and delightful conversation can and should be. In so doing, those difficult topics didn't feel quite so difficult after all.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Artfully Speaking
I had the opportunity to participate in both a focus group and a pilot discussion program recently. In both situations, the facilitator was seeking information about a given topic in a controlled setting, but the latter experience had an additional component, a focus on civil discourse, no matter how difficult the topic. In today's society, I feel that we've moved disturbingly away from the ability to share views without it becoming a shouting match. One voice grows louder than the other. Interrupting the other person's thought without regard or respect for his or her perspective is becoming the norm, not the intolerable exception. I've witnessed this sad state of communication in our politics and experienced it in our media, and now such uncivil discourse seems to have oozed into everyday encounters between families, friends and neighbors. The pilot program was a refreshing way to bring back the age-old art of conversation, sitting around a table for a couple of hours where discussion is free from interruption of television, telephones and texts. By listening carefully and then respectfully replying I was reminded of how enlightening and delightful conversation can and should be. In so doing, those difficult topics didn't feel quite so difficult after all.
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