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Conscious Conversation

Background: Choosing How We Talk and Listen

Democracy needs a place to sit down.

—Hannah Arendt

Allah says: I have made you into nations and into tribes to get to know one another.

—The Koran

When I ask people caught in conflict to summarize in one word what they feel is most urgently needed to deal effectively with the situation, the word communication always echoes in the room.

Of course, this answer is valid, as far as it goes. But it is not that simple. Why does communicating often worsen conflict? Why have so many citizens stopped going to civic meetings because they are nothing more than ...

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