Careful Listening

Response to: The Power of Smart Listening
By Annie Murphy Paul 

Active listening is a learned skill. Everyone can listen but to listen well you must listen carefully. Depending on the social circumstances my listening changes. For example when talking to someone about a mundane subject or something not of interest to me, I listen but not attentively. I do not improve my knowledge on that subject by listening to be ‘nice’, I just simply listen. When in class I am engaged and I actively listen, meaning I use the knowledge I already have and make connections to the professors lecture. I link my knowledge with theirs to gain a better understanding and therefore I am engaging in metacognition. 

Careful listening is overlooked especially in realtion to natural sounds. We are surrounded by sounds like industrial noises and technological hums that we no longer tune into. They are background noise. Careful listening allows one to become aware of specific discourses and learn much more then if we just ‘listen’. 

Metacognition
noun – Psychology
Awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes.