Dialogue Groups

 Dialogue  Practice Is  

      

It can look like a parlor game:               

 It is not about dice or pairs it is a lot about group communication. There is a bit to learn. It may seem like a parlour game and it is a little like that and there is some fun in it, but it can have a much bigger payoff. 

                Our dialogue talk is designed to create areas of coherence in the vastness of misunderstanding. Often a major benefit of our dialogue is to give us a better chance to experience the power of collectively shared meaning which we have created. Most ordinary talk in our society may be called incoherent. To learn to do our dialogue talk, takes ongoing practice. This practice we have called Dialogue for Peace, Magic Table Dialogue, and just The Dialogue. The Dialogue has rules which call for practice. The rules need not be rigid, but they do call for practice which is important. 

It can be a worthy effort:                

The Dialogue is aimed at learning to think together coherently. Thinking together coherently calls for sustained practice. An early practice may be called a listening practice, but calls for some use of your voice as well as of your ears and mind. Thinking together is both satisfying and a great power.  We believe that it is well worth the effort.

                This thinking together is a learning and growth process. It occurs on various levels of consciousness. It occurs in one, in mental talk to one's self, or even on unspoken levels. We could just say that a lot of learning goes on in dialogue practice.

                Make comments below. I respect suggestions and am grateful for them.
Suggestions about how the dialogue might be done online can benefit us.
You may place whatever you have to say in the "Comment" area below anonymously, with a pen name, or just your regular name.

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Not a Public Forum

Public forums are great. Our dialogue practices are social, but usually not public. They are more focused on meaning and understanding than is much of our discourse.  

             A public forum is of great value to a people. It is a place for news and information to be exchanged, and may be a place to convince others of the value of one's positions. It may even be a place for economic or religious contention. Such forums are important tools of democracy, nation, and community.

        Members of dialogue practice groups often support public forums. The public forum is a place for the practice of free speech wherein the limits are so broad so that it seems that anything goes. The debate found there is often valuable. Our practice groups are less interested in bringing another to our point of view and more interested in truly understanding the meaning of what the speaker has said.

        In our dialogue groups we aim for higher levels of meaning, understanding, and ability to think together. We aim for greater respect and valuing for the assumptions and opinions of others. With appropriate modesty, we aim to better understand the meaning what others are saying for us.

        We like our group to be inclusive. We are interested in sharing peace, meaning, and understanding. In our groups we practice talking among ourselves using rules for, and ways of,  carrying on our talk effectively.

        To beginners our talk sometimes seems purposeless. We seem to have no agenda, to have little authority or hierarchy. However, with our rules, ways, and skills, we limit fear, anger, and contention as we enhance understanding, meaning, and peace. At times we are pleasantly surprised by evidence of a new power of thinking together.

        Check out the other posts on this kind of dialog on this blog. A new post is on the way.

        Thank you for reading.

        

                                                    by Richard Sheehan