Dialogue and Bohm

Bohm describes a discussion as a ping pong match in which people are competing against each other. He argues that a dialogue, on the other hand, involves a shared meaning acting as a glue holding people and societies together.

“In dialogue, however, nobody is trying to win. Everybody wins if anybody wins. There is a different sort of spirit to it. In dialogue, there is no attempt to gain points, or to make your particular view prevail. Rather, whenever any mistake is discovered on the part of anybody, everybody gains. It’s a situation called win-win, in which we are not playing a game against each other but with each other. In a dialogue, everyone wins.” p.2

I hope that the Post Grad Group will involve this kind of communication. Hopefully we’ll want to share, not compete, in order to benefit us all.

Bohm, D. (1996). On Dialogue. London: Routledge

(recommended to me by Lynda in her feedback on my project plan)