On Dialogue

"Finally, although not a book about education per se, the summer of 2017 is a fine time to read David Bohm’s '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 people’s minds’, he writes. ‘Those programs take over against the best of intentions - they produce their own intentions.’ Bohm’s 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.