On Listening (Better)
From Massimo Pigliucci listening to Plutarch, in Philosophy Now, April/May 2024 …
“A good case can be made that we talk (or write) too much, and listen (or read) too little. It comes naturally, these days, to blame social media, mainstream media, an epidemic of attention deficit disorder, and what not, for this problem. It turns out, however, that we may need to put at least some of the blame on human nature itself, since it’s an old problem. Just read the following:
“I am of the opinion that listening ought to be a constant topic of discussion in one’s own mind and with other people. This is especially so because it is noticeable that most people go about the matter in the wrong way: they practice speaking before they have got used to listening, and they think that speaking takes study and care, but benefit will accrue from even a careless approach to listening… It is said [by Zeno the Stoic] that Nature gave each of us two ears, but one tongue, because we should listen more than we speak””
(On Listening, p.3, in Essays by Plutarch, trans. Robin Waterfield).
“Plutarch is right on the mark when he says that most of us think that speaking requires training and technique while we believe that listening comes naturally and doesn’t need any further attention.
Plutarch continues:
“We ought to transfer our scrutiny from the speaker to ourselves, and ask ourselves whether we make the same mistakes without noticing them… Criticism is useless and vain if it fails to lead to any improvement or vigilance in these respects… One should not balk at constantly repeating to oneself Plato’s saying: ‘Am I really sure that I’m not like that too?’”