cannabis fitness
information processing
Now here's a big bit of daily alchemy, at least potentially, we hardly see as it hides in plain sight: the synergistic power of human communication; a power perhaps best expressed by Stephen Hawking on Pink Floyd's final album, The Endless River, itself an anthem, or paean might be a better word, to effective communication and its critical role in evolution. (btw, another theme/paean to "the evolution of communication" was also expressed, perhaps more theatrically and cosmically, in the 1971 Moody Blues album, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor.)
How might we improve our communication skills so as to favor results that are beautiful, good, and true? What types of communication should we avoid so as to diminish as much as possible within our grasp results that are ugly, bad, and false?
Our answer here is to study and practice the art of dialogue as presented in William Isaacs' book Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together (1999). As the slide above shows, when we practice dialogue we build bridges of understanding, connections of community, and channels of information flow, which--as they are cleared, widened, and streamlined--allow us, as Hawking notes, to accomplish the impossible.
What are the results of human communication? We see the effects all around us, both pleasing and disturbing. So what makes the difference between results that are pleasant and results that are painful?
The answer appears a matter of effective vs. ineffective communication, evolving beyond methods and means of talking that produce little if any mutual benefit and pleasing result.
