On Dialogue [Paperback]

Never before has there been a greater need for deeper listening and more open communication to cope with the complex problems facing our organizations, businesses and societies. Renowned scientist David Bohm believed there was a better way for humanity to discover meaning and to achieve harmony. He identified creative dialogue, a sharing of assumptions and understanding, as a means by which the individual, and society as a whole, can learn more about themselves and others, and achieve a renewed sense of purpose. Finally, although not a book about education per se, the summer of 2017 is a fine time to read David Bohms 'On Dialogue' (1996). Bohm, a theoretical physicist, wrote this short, striking text in response to a general feeling that communication is breaking down everywhere, on an unparalleled scale. The book is a brilliantly penetrating analysis of the way that people habitually talk at cross purposes, blocking and distorting the meaning of what others are trying to say. Assumptions or opinions are like computer programs in peoples minds, he writes. Those programs take over against the best of intentions - they produce their own intentions. Bohms reflections on how to listen to the whole of what is said and how to create something new in dialogue with others remain highly resonant. -Matt Lloyd-Rose,social researcher, NGO leader and writer.David Bohm (1917-92). Renowned physicist and theorist who was one of the most original thinkers of the second half of the twentieth century.