My mother used to tell me to remember that I had two ears and only one mouth.
My father always reminded me that it’s hard to learn anything when your mouth is moving.
The recent presidential campaign in the United States was an example of this inability to listen that went on 24/7 for months and months. The debates were exercises in ignoring the questions and talking past each other. The media showed an amazing ability to talk ad infinitum about a short tweet or to overanalyze a single sentence out of an interview seemingly without hearing the rest of what was said and how it modified or explained the few words they chose to focus on. Early signs since the winner was inaugurated seem to show that this destructive inability to listen on a national level will continue.
