Conversation is everything
Conversation is the basic unit of human sharing
Think of a great conversation with a loved one, an acquaintance, a stranger. Did it inform, validate, thrill, sadden, or provoke you? In a subtle or surprising way, did it change your perspective or give shape to a new reality?
Conversation is the engine that drives relationships
…we are not a collection of “bounded selves.” Through our interactions, we are constantly co-creating ideas, attitudes, and beliefs, creating something bigger than, and different from, the two of us.
Conversations tell us who we are
…our identity is forged in relationship. You are a mother, Gergen points out, when your child calls for you; a customer when someone asks, “Can I help you?”
At its best, conversation is a non-zero-sum game
The idea that each of us is a product of our multiple interactions bumps against a 500-year tradition of individualism. But the old paradigm is not working in today’s world. The notion of a bounded self translates into winners and losers, good and evil, us versus them – what game theorists call a “zero-sum” game which all but guarantees polarized positions
We are designed for collaborative conversation
There is also physiological evidence that the separate self is an illusion…although our brains are encased in our individual skulls, we are “social animals” built for co-action.
Collaborative conversation is essential for sharing resources
Many critical issues confronting society today depend on the ability to converse with consequential strangers who see the same problem from a different vantage point
- Melinda Blau
(Source: shareable.net)
