On this winter Monday vacation-day-for-some, it's worth reflecting about two subtle but urgent needs that generally seem out of reach for lawyers in the early 21st century -- slowing down and turning off the noise. The most eloquent essay on the subject I've seen in a while was published in the New York Times this month. It's by Swedish mystery writer Henning Mankell, whose sly, hair-raising, and exquisitely-paced novels are an excellent excuse to step off the work treadmill. (But that's another story.) Back to the essay, in which Mankell laments the loss of story-telling and listening in the modern Western world:
In Africa listening is a guiding principle. It’s a principle that’s been lost in the constant chatter of the Western world, where no one seems to have the time or even the desire to listen to anyone else. From my own experience, I’ve noticed how much faster I have to answer a question during a TV interview than I did 10, maybe even 5, years ago. It’s as if we have completely lost the ability to listen. We talk and talk, and we end up frightened by silence, the refuge of those who are at a loss for an answer. (Emphasis added)
So here's the question: has the pace of questions-and-answers in trials and depositions in your world sped up in your professional lifetime? If it has, are we losing anything? Is anybody listening?
Art: John William Waterstone, Thisbe, 1909
