Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Is the "art" of conversation dying?
We live in an age of rapidly changing communication in both the media and means by which we interact with one another. Whether we e-mail, tweet, blog or transpose our thoughts in a consortium of ways which satisfy our ego for the moment at hand, all too often we accept all of this as the best way to interact with one another. However, I question how we have allowed ourselves to escape open and honest dialogue with one another...often replacing it with text messaging and blurbs of anchronized retorts such as LOL, ROFL, LMAO, FML, and WTF. Some will say the world is becoming smaller, but I tend to see it as a deteriorating ability to interact with others in a verbal and civilized manner.And worse of all, it may very well widen the generation gap at a time when important lessons from those of an older, more experienced generation would be well deserved. As a society we have a wide assortment of tools at our disposal, yet we ignore one of the more meaningful...the way in which we sit and converse with one another, exchanging opinions and pondering new ideas. Rather than focusing so much on ourselves and being concerned about expressing our own likes and dislikes, let's take the initiative to actually listen to what others are saying.
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Yes, the art is dying. These days it's all about me, me, me. I've sat through tiring conversations where the other person goes on, at great length, about themselves, their feelings, their actions. They are the only topic.
ReplyDeleteModern technology is a huge part of it, but also, there is an aversion fad these days. Books. Good books. Great books. Books are a wonderful place to discover vast amounts of topics to discuss. Sadly, tho, if you bring up any of those topics you'll be met with a somewhat scared look from most people.
Conversations have gone down to a grade school level.