little by little we will put some excerpts from
david bohm's "on dialogue" [o.d., routledge 1996] on this page.
ps: feedback is welcome :
ps: feedback is welcome :
during the
past few decades, modern technology, with radio, tv, air travel, and satellites, has woven a network of
communication which puts each part of the world in to
almost instant con tact with all the other parts. yet, in
spite of this world-wide system of linkages, there is, at this very moment,
a general feeling that communication is breaking
down everywhere, on an unparalleled scale. [od
1]
nevertheless,
this meaning does not cover all that is signified by communication. for example, consider dialogue.
in such a dialogue, when one person says
somethinkg, the other person does not in general respond with exactly the
same meaning as that seen by the first person.
rather, the meanings are only SIMILAR and not identical. thus , when the
2nd person replies, the 1st person sees a DIFFERENCE
between what he meant to say and what the other
person understood. on considering this difference, he may
then be able to see somethinkg new, which is relevant both to
his own views and to those of the other person. and so it can
go back and forth, with the continual emergence of a new
content that is common to both participants. thus, in a dialogue, each
person does not attempt to MAKE COMMON certain ideas
or items of information that are already know to him.
rather, it may be said that two people are making some thinkg IN COMMON, i.e., creating some thinkg new to gether
but of course
such communication can lead to the creation of somethinkg new only if people are able freely to
listen to each other, w/o prejudice, and w/o trying
to influence each other. each has to be interested primarily in truth and
coherence, so that he is ready to drop his old ideas
and intentions, and be ready to go on to somethinkg
different, when this is called for. if, however, 2 people merely want to
convey certain ideas or points of view to each other,
as if these were items of info, then they must inevitably
fail to meet. [od 2]
evidently,
communication in the sense described above is necessary in all aspects of life. thus, if people are to
cooperate (i.e., literally to "work together") they
have to be able to create somethinkg in common, somethinkg that takes
shape in their mutual discussions and actions, rather
than somethinkg that is conveyed from one person who acts
as an authority to the others, who act as passive
instruments of the authority.
even in
relationships with inanimate objects and with nature in general, somethinkg very like communication is
involved. consider, for example, the work of an
artist. can it properly be said that the artist is EXPRESSING HIMSELF,
i.e., literally 'pushing outward' somethinkg that is
already formed inside of him. such a description is not in
fact generally accurate or adequate. rather, what usually happens is that
the first thinkg the artist does is only SIMILAR in
certain ways to what he may have in mind. as in a conversation between 2
people, he sees the similarity and the difference,
and from the perception somethinkg further emerges in his next action.
thus, somethinkg new is continually created that is
common to the artist and the material on which he is working
.
[od 3]
it is clear
that if we are to live in harmony with ourselves and with nature, we need to pe able to
communicate freely in a creative movement in which no one permanently
holds to or otherwise defends his own ideas
[...] after all, it is easy for each one of us to see that other people are 'blocked'
about certain questions, so that w/o being aware of
it, they are avoiding the confrontation of contradictions in certain ideas
that may be extremely dear to them.
the very nature of
such a 'block' is, however, that it is a kind of insensitivity or 'anesthesia' about ones own contradictions. evidently then, what is crucial is to be aware
of the nature of ones own 'blocks'. if one is
alert and attentive, he can see for example that whenever certain question arise,
there are fleeting sensations of fear, which push him
away from consideration of those questions, and of
pleasure, which attract his thoughts and cause them to be occupied with
other questions. so one is able to keep away from
whatever it is that he thinkgs may disturb him. and as a result, he can be
subtle defending his own ideas, when he supposes that
he is really listening to what other people have to
say.
when we come together to talk, or
otherwise to act in common, can each one of us be aware of the subtle fear and
pleasure sensations that 'block' his ability to
listen freely [od 4]...
read also what don factor has to say about
bohm-dialogue:
david bohm, ......1917...1992......