You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters

Despite living in a hyper-connected world which is supposed to make communication easier than ever, our ability to listen to what others are saying is being drowned out amid noise and echo chambers. Many people, it seems, have simply forgotten how to listen. The more we try to connect, the more disconnected we become.

Yet the ability to communicate is the lifeblood of human relationships, which is why so many of life’s problems stem from poor communication skills. And the foundation of communication is listening –actively trying to understand another person's point of view. That’s very different from the passive act of hearing, which is simply the act of perceiving a sound by ear.

The point about listening, as New York Times journalist Kate Murphy stresses in this book, is that it requires us to make an active, conscious choice. And not listening, she argues, is making us lonelier, more isolated, and less tolerant than ever before.

As someone whose job depends on her ability to listen to others, Murphy explores why we’ve forgotten this critical skill, what this is doing to us, and how we can reverse the trend. She also examines the psychology, neuroscience and sociology of listening to provide some valuable practical advice that all of us could benefit from.