<< My question is not 'how to do it' but when and why did we lose our
natural
capacity for dialogue, relationships, cooperative & creative work? I see
these arts as something to be rediscovered and reclaimed, not behaviors to
be
learned as if they never existed before.
<< Perhaps the only thing I've read on dialogue is Martin Buber's work where
he
discusses the dynamics of different relationships:
The I-IT dynamic, the other being an "it", an object.
The IT-IT dynamic, we're both "its"!
....
Buber also writes about the I and Thou dynamic, a fully human relationship
and dialogue. ....
<<.... Is it possible that it is a sense of community which might need to be
rediscovered and reclaimed as part of the journey to rediscover our capacity
for dialogue? >>
Claire (Welcome!),
I want first to agree with your basic points, but then to refine them a
little. I think that we are both subject and object (I and It) all the time,
though we may focus on one or the other more or less at a specific time.
Your Buber quotes focus on dyadic relationships, but I think it is more
complicated than that. In therapy, for example, a client and I might be
talking about something he or she has done and I might empathize with their
struggle to change. In this case, the basic relationship is "I - I" (since I
am empathizing with the client's experience), but we are focused together on
the client's objective self.
Your statement about "reclaiming" the capacity for dialogue brings out an
important point, but again, I find myself wanting to adjust it. At some
basic level human beings as a species must have the capacity to learn
"hard-wired" from the start of each individual's life, and, if we are not to
give up all hope on specific individuals, we must believe in their continued
ability to learn throughout their lifetimes. So at this basic level, I'd
agree that it is a capacity (call it "openness to experience"?) that we have
inborn, but also at some level, we never really lose it. On the other hand,
I would bet that there is a distribution of innate ability in this regard and
that there are skills aspects to it that one must develop to optimize the
ability.
I'd say that I'm wary of simply "reclaiming" a capacity for dialogue, as if
we only need to strip away some overlays from bad experiences to get back to
a pristine state. Perhaps we need to "de-habituate" ourselves (interrupt
established, nonproductive patterns of behavior) and then build anew on our
innate capacities.
I like your thought about communities and dialogue. It struck me that the "I
- Thou" relationship implies community, as does real dialogue, and that they
both support and enhance acknowledgement of and focus on the "I - Thou"
relationship. I detect a "virtuous circle" here!
- Jeff (BrooksJeff@AOL.com)
--Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>