Listening with an Open Mind
Ryan Jones Jones 1
Dr. Moore
Honors Eng 104
21 October 2012
It is Your Moral Obligation to Read This Envision a friend spouting off about how amazing his or her sports team is, someone that never ceases to rant about his or her problems, or a boss introducing a bogus new business concept that is clearly doomed for failure. Picturing these type of interactions likely is not difficult, as we have all been in a similar circumstance at one time or another. Donella Meadows wrote an article making an assertion that regardless of who is voicing an opinion, we must listen with open minds. While this may be a seemingly trivial and obvious position to take, the implications of it carry great weight. Listening with an open mind is essential in fully benefitting and learning from those around us, as well as maintaining relationships that will allow us to voice our opinions. Before we can even begin to explore the “open-mind”, it is necessary to understand the responsibility we have to listen to others with an open mind. As humans, we all carry the longing desire to be understood and heard. This desire ignites even as a toddler; young children are an excellent example. They long for their “all-important” feelings to be heard. Adults are no different; we simply filter what comes out to avoid appearing childish, immature, and desperate. However, the fact remains the same: humans possess a strong need to be heard, acknowledged, and understood. Now, with this truth in mind, we must
Jones 2 recognize that everyone is obligated to listen to their fellow humans with an open mind. This is particularly true in America, where our Constitution states that everyone was created equal. Therefore, denying someone this would be denying them what the Constitution defines as a fundamental human right. This is huge. We can become so passionate when our other rights are infringed
Dr. Moore
Honors Eng 104
21 October 2012
It is Your Moral Obligation to Read This Envision a friend spouting off about how amazing his or her sports team is, someone that never ceases to rant about his or her problems, or a boss introducing a bogus new business concept that is clearly doomed for failure. Picturing these type of interactions likely is not difficult, as we have all been in a similar circumstance at one time or another. Donella Meadows wrote an article making an assertion that regardless of who is voicing an opinion, we must listen with open minds. While this may be a seemingly trivial and obvious position to take, the implications of it carry great weight. Listening with an open mind is essential in fully benefitting and learning from those around us, as well as maintaining relationships that will allow us to voice our opinions. Before we can even begin to explore the “open-mind”, it is necessary to understand the responsibility we have to listen to others with an open mind. As humans, we all carry the longing desire to be understood and heard. This desire ignites even as a toddler; young children are an excellent example. They long for their “all-important” feelings to be heard. Adults are no different; we simply filter what comes out to avoid appearing childish, immature, and desperate. However, the fact remains the same: humans possess a strong need to be heard, acknowledged, and understood. Now, with this truth in mind, we must
Jones 2 recognize that everyone is obligated to listen to their fellow humans with an open mind. This is particularly true in America, where our Constitution states that everyone was created equal. Therefore, denying someone this would be denying them what the Constitution defines as a fundamental human right. This is huge. We can become so passionate when our other rights are infringed