WHY LISTENING IS SO MUCH MORE THAN HEARING

"Listening is a skill that we’re in danger of losing in a world of digital distraction and information overload.... And yet we dare not lose it. Because listening tunes our brain to the patterns of our environment faster than any other sens e, and paying attention to the nonvisual parts of our world feeds into everything........“You never listen” is not just the complaint of a problematic relationship, it has also become an epidemic in a world that is exchanging convenience for content, speed for meaning. The richness of life doesn’t lie in the loudness and the beat, but in the timbres and the variations that you can discern if you simply pay attention." By SETH S. HOROWITZ Published: November 9, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/opinion/sunday/why-listening-is-so-much-more-than-hearing.html