November 3, 2010

When heads just don't understand.

I appear twice in this montage of communications breakdowns — it's not always the same — on Bloggingheads (which is doing montages this week in celebration of its 5th anniversary). And it's actually not the most-talked-about Althouse-on-Bloggingheads breakdown. I guess that just wasn't sufficiently montage-able....

10 comments:

shake-and-bake said...

The San Francisco Giants are World Series Champions.

Unknown said...

Madame, you are always montage-able.

BJM said...

I'm always amused by the "tell", a flicker of astonishment/disgust, on Althouse's face when the other side brings the crazy.

The crazy card has been overplayed to the point that many talking heads/pundits, having neutralized the poverty, race and gender cards, are indeed playing with half a deck.

Phil 314 said...

Hopefully (though I'm skeptical) our President can learn this lesson:

-communication is NOT how well you speak but how well you listen

..then understand

.. then apply

Just words indeed

MadisonMan said...

I love the one where the guy on the left is talking about energy, for 10-15 seconds, and the guy on the right follows it with So.....what?

Henry said...

I love the one where the guy on the left is talking about energy, for 10-15 seconds, and the guy on the right follows it with So.....what?

That's the way libertarians lose their cool, I guess.

What I really want to know is: Does 1% of energy in the U.S. come from alternative sources?

Or not?

traditionalguy said...

In a world of independent thinkers, a communication by words and deeds can be willfully refused by a Cool Hand or by a Hot Head. You see, people in a society usually do what they hear authority figures tell them to do. How do we overcome that? Easy, just refuse to hear what is being said, or claim that something else was said, or reply the the communication was garbled in translation and needs repeating...on and on. If we keep litigant's legal communications going ad infinitum, then no Final decision can be reached and no obedience is necessary. Remember, that the "non-hearing" is often an intentional act. Teachers must have willing listeners caught at teachable moments...this requires discipline ... or as German Professors like to say "Auchtung" which means "pay attention." A Law School professor once suggested to me to raise my voice when talking to elderly Judges...it wakes them back up.

bagoh20 said...

They should just text. There is less wasted verbiage. NTAIWWT. See how efficient it is.

ndspinelli said...

"I know Strother Martin, Strother Martin was a friend of mine, you[all Bloggingheads] are no Strother Martin."

When I went to work @ Leavenworth Pen in 1975 it was surreal having inmates from the South calling me, "Boss" or more frequently, "Boss Man". All I could think of was this great flick and feel like a real asshole.

Issob Morocco said...

Ann, what do you and Strother Martin have in common? Can you tell me off the cuff w/o research?

Cheers!