Chaotic Chatter

When we choose not to descend into a state of chaotic chatter, we are showing the person that is talking, that we are attentive and open minded to their conversation, and presentation, and that we value the information that they are willing to share with us. Every person deserves our respect and attentiveness, regardless of whether or not we personally agree with the information that are providing to us. When we are not attentive to the person who is presenting, we are not only disrespecting the presenter, by not listening, but we are also effecting ourselves, as we will not be receiving the necessary information that is being given to us by the speaker.

Another important fact is that when we are not attentive, we are missing necessary information that can affect us in the future. If we decide to ignore the presenter, we can also be acting negatively toward them. By disregarding their own presentations, we are telling them, through our actions, that they are not worth our attention, or our time. Even if sometimes their information does not directly concern us, we will still affected by the outcome. If we fail to treat other presenters the same, then we will not have the same respect from them, when we are presenting our own material.

Another reason is that “Respect has great importance in everyday life”. It is so important for us to respect each other, because we would all like to have the same amount of respect shown to us, in return. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states, “We come to value respect for such things; when we're older, we may shake our heads (or fists) at people who seem not to have learned to respect them.” This statement means that although today, we can sometimes forget to respect others, now, we will eventually grow to become people who respect individuals for who they are.

Many people do not realize that the other factor that affects this is the fact that most people are hearing the person, but are not truly listening to the words that they are saying. They are too absorbed in their own lives to worry about anyone else’s. When someone is speaking, most of the time, people actually take in only 25% of what they are actually hearing. A person, while they might try to listen to everyone, they will still end up disregarding about 75% of the conversation.

“We may also come to believe that, at some level, all people are worthy of respect.” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 1. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/respect/ ). No matter who we are, or what we may believe in, we all deserve the same amount of respect. Regardless of whether or not we  have the same views, it is important for people to listen to what others have to say, mainly because it also allows them to change their perspective on certain issues as well. It allows us to think more about our own views, and it can even give us a new perspective on some of those same issues.

 “We may learn both that our lives together go better when we respect the things that deserve to be respected and that we should respect some things independently of considerations of how our lives would go.” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,1). This particular quote demonstrates that not only should we “respect the things that deserve to be respected”, but also that we also have to respect the things that can ultimately control the outcome of the rest of our lives. It is so important for us to remember this part, in particular, because we also have to, at times “respect things independently of considerations”, of how the rest of our lives could unfold.

The value of learning to control our own emotions and impulses is one that is necessary in our daily lives. This particular value is especially important, because in order for us to succeed, we have to be able to control our own impulses, and emotions. By doing this, we will be able to gain the respect of not only the people who will be directly affected by this, but also by the people around us. If we are able to control our own emotions, and impulses, then it will be much easier for us to recognize the true value of respect. By not being rude or distracting, during a presentation, we also show our respect the person speaking, and how we respect the amount of time and effort it took the person to prepare for, and to present the information to us.