Dialogue Dialogue is a disciplined form of conversation

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The meaning of dialogue

The word dialogue has several meanings depending on the context in which it is used.

If you look up the word in most dictionaries, you will find definitions like this.

• A conversation between two or more persons. e.g. A discussion about the subject took place.
• The exchange of opinions between people or groups who disagree with each other. e.g. There was a dialogue between the two sides.
• Negotiations between opposing groups for the purpose of reaching an agreement. e.g. Government leaders have stated that they are willing to engage in dialogue with the rebels.
• A conversation between characters in a book, a play, or a film. e.g. There was some witty dialogue in the play.

In everyday informal language, the word dialogue is used simply as an alternative to conversation, discourse, or debate.

In the context of this blook, however, I am referring to Bohm Dialogue

Bohm Dialogue

Bohm Dialogue is a potent conversational or thinking tool.

Dialogue is a disciplined form of conversation.

It is an emerging process that has tremendous potential for transforming the way that people communicate and share tacit knowledge in everyday conversation.

Fundamentally, when two people engage each other in dialogue they enter a conversation with a view to learn from each other rather than impose their views on the other.

Credit: David Bohm

In dialogue:

• We prefer a certain position but do not cling to it.
• We are ready to listen to others.
• Our mindset is not one of ‘convincing others that our way is right’ but of asking what we can learn from them.
• It is recognizing that other people’s input will help us refine our own ideas or reveal our misconceptions.
• It is not an argument or debate. It is not a win-lose.
• In dialogue, all sides win by coming up with a more appropriate solution than a single person could ever have. It is a win-win.

It is what Stephen Covey calls ‘synergy.’ This is what Stephen says about synergy in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People:

Many people have not really experienced even a moderate degree of synergy in their family life or in other interactions.

They’ve been trained and scripted into defensive and protective communications or into believing that life and other people can’t be trusted.

This represents one of the great tragedies and wastes in life, because so much potential remains untapped – completely undeveloped and unused.

Ineffective people live day after day with unused potential.

They experience synergy only in small, peripheral ways in their lives.

Credit: Stephen Covey

Synergy is where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It’s in the relationships that exist between the parts. Again in the words of Stephen Covey:

The essence of synergy is to value differences – to respect them, to build on strengths, to compensate for weaknesses.

Credit: Stephen Covey

The real power of dialogue is in revealing our hidden paradigms. We all have different upbringings, experiences, and backgrounds that allow us to see each other’s false assumptions.

By engaging in dialogue, we can reveal other people’s paradigms to them, and they, in turn, can reveal ours. This helps us see the world in new ways and destroy many inappropriate assumptions and misinformation that we all hold dear.

Suppose we were able to share meanings freely without a compulsive urge to impose our view or conform to those of others and without distortion and self-deception.

Would this not constitute a real revolution in culture?

Credit: David Bohm

The kind of conversation I like is one in which you are prepared to emerge a slightly different person.

Credit: Theodore Zeldin

Posts that link to this post

•  Knowledge Café Principle: Dialogue Not Debate Be prepared to emerge a slightly different person
•  Turn Monologues Into Dialogues Talk with people rather than talk at them
•  Connecting Minds Connecting and synchronising minds
•  The Long History of Argument A series of talks by Rory Stewart
•  Avoiding Modern-day Colonialism Colonialism: the dominance, control, and exploitation by one group over another
•  Philosophy of Conversation ** Conversation is fundamental to the human experience

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