金曜日の読書You are not listening は15章あるので、少し端折り（はしょり）ます。今日は5章（The tone-deaf response – Why people would rather talk to their dog）と6章（Talking like a tortoise, thinking like a hare – The speech-thought differential）です。
言っていることは単純で、5章は、悩みを打ち明けられた時など深刻な話題のときには聞き手の反応が重要ということ、６章は聞き手はなるべく話さないで考えながら聞くこと、です。詩の引用、技術的な用語、哲学的な用語がしばしば使われていて、著者の感性はいろいろな読者に合うだろうなと思います。面白い例がたくさん載っていますが、今日は英語の表現を拾っていきましょう。
tone-deaf = 音痴 (LDOCE) unable to hear the difference between different musical notes
tone-deaf response は「ずれた反応」くらいでしょうか？
tortoise 「ト」ータス はリクガメです。turtle 「タ」ートる はウミガメ。
hare ヘア は野ウサギ。 rabbitはアナウサギだそうです。6章の題は、ウサギとカメですね。同様に使うようです。
“The world is easier to navigate if you remember that people are governed by emotions, acting more often out of jealousy, pride, shame, desire, fear, or vanity than dispassionate logic.”
vanity 虚飾
“When you leave a conversation, ask yourself, What did I just learn about the person? What was most concerning to that person today? How did that person feel about what we were talking about? If you cannot answer those questions, you probably need to work on your listening.”
work on = to try very hard to improve or achieve something 「これらの質問に答えられないなら、聞くことの修行が必要です」
“To be a good listener means using your available bandwidth not to take mental side trips but rather to double down on your efforts to understand and intuit what some one is saying.” これは耳が痛いですね。
bandwidth 帯域
side trips 寄り道
intuit = 感覚でわかる to know or guess something because of a feeling you have, rather than because of facts you know
intuition インテュ「イ」ション 直感