Good point Jo Sharp. Yes we do need to learn to listen.
But(there had to be a 'but'!)...
It seems unlikely that all the people who don't get involved in discussing
real issues (like homelessness, rights, the forest fires in Indonesia to
name some recent ones raised here) are simply superb listeners. Also you
don't need to have researched a particular issue for years (or even at all)
to have some particular insight or a new way of looking at it, or even
simply having an opinion on it, all of which may enrich others or help them
to question either dominant opinions or their own etc.
I think this is one way in which this forum is different from journals.
One example of this questionning is what I have been thinking following
Hestor's posting. Maybe I am one of those guilty of 'aggressive' postings
which have intimidated participation. I hope not, but I think we all have
to think about the tone and manner we adopt in this environment- it's too
easy to be offhand, sharp and dismissive in a virtual setting.
I'd better stop or I'll find myself charged with the same navel-gazing I
was suggesting happenned too often already! :-)
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