blog 5

  1. Hearing and listening are two confusing words within the English language. These two verbs are linked with the meaning of sound and describe the experience of receiving sound. Even though these two verbs can be applied to the identical things (the things we hear), there’s a difference in their meanings. The most significant difference between hearing and listening is that hearing is receiving, or perceiving, sound through our ears, whereas listening means making significant efforts to perceive sound. The difference between hearing and listening is just like the difference between watching and observing.

    Listening is a skill that requires us as the listener to provide feedback about what we hear from the speaker. However, being attentive to others can strengthen our relationships. And once we listen well to others, we reveal ourselves as being curious and engaged with them. Additionally, our ability to know the meanings of what we hear will make us a more knowledgeable and thoughtful people.

    For example, if we’re listening to someone discuss a difficult day they had at work, we’ll have our full attention focused on them. As they speak, we will begin to gain insight into what their experience was like, and this will help us formulate thoughtful comments and ask relevant questions to gain a deeper understanding of their experience.

    In my native country, relationships with our colleagues may affect our ability to pay attention by listening to them. Because once we know our colleagues well, we frequently assume we will know what they’re saying or will say during a particular situation, and that we plan our response accordingly. All told, in these situations, the conditions needed for genuine listening don’t seem to be present. Further, dialogue and deliberation quickly devolve when individuals believe that what they need to mention isn’t valued.

  2. The author Schafer illustrates that our modern technological society has attained somewhat of a consensus regarding what is desirable and undesirable. According to Krukowski, our concept of noise and signal within the urban environment has changed to a point where industrial sound and birdsong have become one and the same, as well as noisy elements, blocked out by our headphones. With our digital society, we have made it far too easy to shut out any unwanted or uncomfortable noise.