Parent (Previous) Guide Folders
Constructive Conflict Guide > Civic Knowledge and Skills That We Can Use to Help Ourselves and Our Society More Constructively Handle Intractable Conflict > Stripping Away "Overlay" Problems That Make Conflicts Appear More Intractable Than They Really Are > Limiting Communication Problems and the Resulting Misunderstandings
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BI Article
Listen To and Talk With (not to) the Other Side
A how-to to really understand the other side -- the first step towards conflict resolution or constructive confrontation.
BI Article
Empathic Listening
Richard Salem writes, "I spent long hours learning to read and write and even had classroom training in public speaking, but I never had a lesson in listening or thought of listening as a learnable skill until I entered the world of mediation as an adult."
BI Article
John Lande: The Importance of Really Listening -- For Ourselves, Others, and Democracy
Some of our biggest errors are that we generally assume that we correctly understand the world and that being wrong is bad. Rather, we often are wrong--and that is good!
BI Article
ChatGPT --- Can It "Listen" Better Than We Can?
Can ChatGPT "listen to" and understand the other side better than we can? And if so, is that useful for de-polarization?
BI Article
Responsibilities of Bridgers -- And The Rest of Us
David Eisner observes that bridgers serve as a critical portal for ideas on each side to be heard, understood and considered by the other when they are too angry to listen to the other on their own. Are bridgers the only people who can do that?
BI Article
Simple Misunderstandings
Sometimes conflicts are caused by simple misunderstandings -- people thinking someone said or did something that they didn't say or do.
Colleague Activities
Rule Omega
Daniel Schmactenberger and Jordan Greenhall talk about listening for the "meaningful signal" hidden within the "noise" of any statement.
Colleague Activities
Empathy Circle Game
The Empathy Circle Game was created to enrich listening and communication skills through a series of engaging in-person group activities.
Colleague Activities
Listening is powerful. This one skill can transform relationships, and even lead to social change
A story with many powerful examples of how and why listening is so important to conflict resolution and reconciliation.