Week 5 - Blog 4

Web Lecture: Democracy & Dialogue – Blog 4

On this week’s web lecture, Professor Cyborg reiterates the meaning of dialogue described in chapter 2, “dialogue requires a balance between expressing ourselves and understanding the perspectives that others bring to an issue. You want to be passionate about both.” The term “passionate” stands out to me. Most people are passionate about their own views, but are seldom passionate about another’s views. It’s much easier for people to have respect for, or even express interest in, another viewpoint, but to be passionate about a differing opinion takes an enormous amount of effort. This is the underlying principle of critical thinking. Because one cannot know everything there is to know about the world, we have no alternative but to encourage dialogue and embrace varying ideas. Organizations that do so are more productive and have increased employee satisfaction.