America Has Forgotten How to Listen | Opinion
America's divisions aren't caused by disagreement itself but by having lost the ability to listen, understand and embrace context.
The American Psychological Association's 2025 Stress in America survey reveals that 62 percent of U.S. adults consider societal division a significant source of stress, with 54 percent reporting feelings of isolation. Among those who identify societal division as a significant stressor, 61 percent experience political breakups, resulting in severed relationships. This suggests that our inability to listen to one another has transcended political debate and is impacting how we connect with each other.
While disagreement has long been a part of American life, the discipline to listen appears to be eroding. People now enter conversations with their responses already formed, failing to truly listen and understand others. Communication has transformed into a competitive game, where the goal is to out-talk and outmaneuver others rather than engage in meaningful dialogue. This "debate-only culture" fosters an environment where compromise is seen as weakness and questioning is viewed as conceding.
Social media exacerbates the issue, as isolated incidents can be amplified globally while the context surrounding them is lost. We have access to more information than ever before, yet understanding remains elusive. Understanding requires context, which takes time—a luxury often lacking in our fast-paced society.
As a novelist, I believe fiction offers a valuable lesson in understanding. Novels compel readers to immerse themselves in characters, allowing them to witness a person's history, relationships, and decisions before forming judgments. Understanding does not mean condoning someone's actions but acknowledging the experiences that shaped them. Fiction teaches us that understanding is not absolution but context.
While fiction cannot resolve America's divisions, it can cultivate the skill of understanding that is increasingly scarce in our current culture. By engaging with complex characters and their circumstances, we can learn to approach real-life disagreements with empathy and open-mindedness. Understanding others is not about capitulation but rather about fostering meaningful discussions and finding common ground despite our differences.
Written by urgent.news from Newsweek's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
