Blog Post #1

Jimmy McLean          

Blog Post #1

We have been talking about many things lately in class, but one big topic we have covered is Dialogic communication/ listening. This sense of communication is characterized as when both parties have stake in the interaction. Unfortunately, while this communication is optimal, people can twist and miscue interactions in bad ways. These are called Conquergood’s four pitfalls. Now, not all bad communication falls under this category but there are times when these four pitfalls come into play. The two of four pitfalls include Custodian’s Rip-Off, Enthusiast’s Infatuation.

            The first of Counquergood’s four pitfalls is the Custodian’s Rip-Off.  This is described as when people selfishly engage in communication with others with hopes in mind that they can gain some sort of benefit from the other person. An example would be; a business man knows of someone who can sell him a certain product so he communicates with said person with the soul intention to buy a product, not caring about the person selling. This will shut down dialogic communication because it shuts down all of the personal and moral concerns for the other person. The only reason the business man is listening to the seller is because he only has the goal of buying the product, and not out of respect for the person’s perspective. Although this pitfall is probably seen every day by many people, it is still important to realize and remember that this way of listening takes away from meaningful communication between two parties.

            The second of the four pitfall’s is Enthusiast’s Infatuation. This pitfall is described as when we only try and find similarities with other people while in communication and disregard all other information. This is harmful because if we only listen for similarities, we block out all other sources of personality and differences between both parties. It is defined as, “The distinctiveness of the other is glossed over by a glaze of generalities” as http://www.csun.edu/~vcspc00g/301/perfasmoralact.pdf says. This is important to remember because if we disregard the differences we cut off a very important part of dialogic communication.

            It is good to remember to keep up dialogic communication when we communicate with others.