Communicating With Others for the Sake of Learning

For some time now, I have been pondering the effects of human social interaction and how we are becoming increasingly timid when it comes to sharing our thoughts and opinions. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is how sensitive we have become to things we deem to be "offensive."  So many times, a conversation is cut short or taken in the wrong direction because one of the participants took offense to something that was said. I find this trend to be despicable. Being offended, is silly because it causes one to shut off (isolate) their minds from taking in foreign ideas for further evaluation.

Ideally, I should be able to have a conversation with another human being without censoring my ideas and opinions. That is how it should be. After all, if I am unable to communicate my honest thoughts to another person, how will we be able to sort out ideas? When we cease to communicate, we cease to share often vital information with people who may need it. When I feel as though I am unable to communicate my ideas to another person, many misunderstandings arise. There are many things that can cause us to feel as though we can't communicate. Among these are fear of ridicule, fear of offending, and vast differences in personality and experience. It is my belief that those with such large experiential differences have the most to learn from one another, but are often the least likely to share ideas. We often fear or otherwise shun those who may come across as too different from ourselves.

We've all become to afraid of offending people, and so communication begins to break down. When communication breaks down, learning slows down because ideas and information cease to be shared. Without shared information, how are we to make informed decisions?

Making solid communicative connections with other people is the key to successful learning and advancement. The information coursing through our minds can be shared with others and they (if they are receptive) will be able to evaluate it and give their own analysis. There is wisdom in the council of many.

I'll hopefully be able to post a more in-depth analysis of these issues at a later time (I always say that). But the reality is that I have to go to work and I don't want to leave another post unpublished.