David Bohm On Dialogue Analysis

In the segment, On Communication, from the book, On Dialogue, David Bohm introduces just how elaborate communication is. Progress and innovation are constant in this ever changing world of dialogue. Although there are advances that keep people connected within their networks, conflict can arise during dialogue, whether network members originate from the same economic, political, or ethnic backgrounds. With the presence of conflict being a constant symptom of dialogue, those participating in sharing and discussing may shy away from truly “communicating”, or in the words of Bohm, “making something common”, which is of the utmost importance for development and growth as humans (14). Through defining the word “communication”, David Bohm enlightens

An allusion can be made to Glaucon and Socrates’ conversation throughout The Allegory of the Cave in regards to the effort put into instructing, as well as learning. When Socrates speaks to Glaucon about education and how it should be structured by using the metaphor of the “eye instrument”, he proposes that the ability to learn is present within everyone when he states, “the instrument with which each learns is like an eye that cannot be turned around from darkness to light without turning the whole body” (Plato 5). Socrates later suggest that education is what takes this sight that people already possess, and then “…it tries to redirect it appropriately” (5). Through this education, sight is shifted from a position of ignorance to a position of enlightenment. This is what Bohm does through his instructions on how to listen freely. David Bohm takes the ability to hear and molds it into something active, something for people who desire more to actively seek out. Bohm is turning his readers’ heads away from the cave wall of shadows and toward the bright sun. Plato would agree with Bohm’s idea of listening freely and listening actively because he believed that achieving the light of education was an active process, one that a person had to pursue by turning away from ignorance and toward enlightenment. Plato would ultimately agree that for thoughtful communication to commence, listening freely is necessary; he would essentially agree with the same argument in regards to his writing, and the efforts that are necessary to reach