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How To Be A Good Listener – Tomb Log

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I’m a child of a therapist. What that means is that I was expertly listened-to most of my life. And then, wow, I met the rest of the world. This is a skill that need not be rare. After all, one unquestionably unique human attribute—that no other animal seems to be capable of—is the desire to link our minds. We want to know what the other is thinking. We want to know what our whole species thinks (written language) and has learned (school). And yet, minds are not directly observable. We have to talk about them. We have a seemingly endless interest in stories, because there is information there we crave—how to be. Sharing stories of events and people, whether real or fictional, synchronizes our values, provides (perceived) control over this insane world via meaning and causal explanations, and creates—not reinforces, but creates—the basic, primal social bond humans have as we, as listeners, all tune into to one point of attention. It’s a good thing for our survival. It’s what makes this

I’m a child of a therapist. What that means is that I was expertly listened-to most of my life. And then, wow, I met the rest of the world. This is a skill that need not be rare. After all, one unquestionably unique human attribute—that no other animal seems to be capable of—is the desire to link our minds . We want to know what the other is thinking. We want to know what our whole species thinks (written language) and has learned (school). And yet, minds are not directly observable. We have to talk about them. We have a seemingly endless interest in stories, because there is information there

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