There
is no silence. Silence is an unattainable idea. The only way to achieve silence
is to become deaf. And then we are only protected from physical sound. At no
other point are we able to find silence. We live in a noisy face pasted world
and I think one way humans adapt to sound is to just try and block it out. We
almost become numb to it. Ignoring everything but the most relevant things in
order to keep our sanity. But while this method is necessary it is also dangerous.
Because we become very good at ignoring things, and if we are unable to distinguish
a sound as important one we may lose an opportunity or suffer consequences for blocking
it out.
Hearing
in all its forms is important. It is a skill that can make or break us. It is essential
for observing our surrounding as well as understanding them. Listening can be
as physical and life threating as hearing a car and stepping out of the way. Or
as complex as interrupting a lecture in a way that convinces you to go a new
path in your life. In each example I just gave by hearing or not hearing may
change the course of your life. Well the sounds around us can be this life
changing they also might not be. They might just be worth ignoring. And part of
becoming a good listener is distinguishing between the two. The three biggest
take away I took from this chapter is that listing will effect what we comprehend
and our perspective which is why its important to listen.
Hearing
is one thing. But comprehending is a another. If we hear someone tell us something.
We might hear it but we are unable to understand it. There is also other sounds
as that person talks. Do we notice that the person talking to us has a stuffy
nose as they talk? And do we comprehend what that means? Also what about the
back ground noise, the siren in the back ground, the crying baby in the next door,
crickets. Are we hearing all of this and also comprehending it. A perfect
example of this is the YouTube video The Monkey Business Illusion. This video
shows six people throwing a basket ball back and forth and then asks you to
count the amount of times the people with the white shirt pass the ball. While
they do this a monkey walks through them a person disappears and the current
changes colors. Depending on how observant you were you might have missed or
seen everything. You might have comprehended everything going on or just missed
it.
But
comprehension has a greater effect then just what we know. It also changes what
we think about what we know. Because what we comprehend leads to our perspective.
One of my favorite quotes from our in class text is Ingrid Monson who said “The
conscious focusing of sensory attention that can yield different experiences of
the same event.” (pg67) The monkey video is a good example of this. Those who
are watching the ball very carefully will miss the monkey. But those watching
the monkey closely will miss the curtain. No matter what you are looking for
will change how you see it. If you try to talk to someone else about the experience
it can lead to confusion because there was so much variety in your perception.
So
last of all how do we hear? How do we comprehend what we are hearing. This is a
difficult question not one that I think I have sufficient time or knowledge to answer.
But another quote from the book that I felt had great significance when
thinking about that issue was by Don Ihde who wrote “I do not merely hear with
my ears, I hear with my whole body. My ears are at best the focal organs of
hearing” perhaps one way to hear better and comprehend more is to hear more then
just sound. Hear what are skin and eyes tell us. Hear what are heart and mind whisper.
Hear in a more comprehensive way.
Silent
may not be achievable, but is that not a good thing. Quite is good silence on
the other hand might actually be bad. Because we would have no idea what is
going on. Hearing is how we understand. Listening is comprehending. This first
part of the semester has taught me a lot but what I have valued the most was
the section on listing. I learned that how to listen and that listing will affect
how we comprehend, which will effect how we will perceive.
P.
(2010, April 28). The Monkey Business Illusion. Retrieved February 01, 2018,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY
Warren,
J. T., & Fassett, D. L. (2015). Communication: a critical/cultural
introduction. Los Angeles: Sage.
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