Learning to Listen: The Lost Art of Listening

I used to teach at a small college. Everyday, class would be a series of questions. I don't mean questions about the material we were discussing. I mean question about due dates, directions and "What page is that on, again?" The reason I was constantly fielding these queries was simple: the students weren't listening when I said things the first time. Proof of this comes when another student would ask what his classmate just asked, and I just answered, five minutes before. I'd like to say my experiences talking to the walls are limited to these students who just needed to get organized or sign up for courses later in the day. I'm sure you'd like to say the only people who don't listen to you are your tired significant other or your moody teenager who is "going through a phase".  However, the truth is our world is becoming a gigantic non-listening wall. The society so infatuated with being heard has become very bad at listening.

Look at our biggest societal complaints: families are falling apart. Politicians are out of touch with the people. Social discourse lacks civility. At the root of these issues is, in part, the same cause: people aren't listening. Pop psychology, for example, seems to tells us the key to harmony in the home is articulating our every want and need: ask for more romance, tell him why it's so crucial that he takes out the trash without your asking. The emphasis is on taking responsibility for being heard, not for hearing what the other person is trying to say.