Ray’s Daily
October 4, 2021
“No one is as deaf as the man who will not listen.”
Jewish Proverb
Ray’s Daily first published on October 4, 2006
This morning I attended a lecture on speech. The presenter was an expert on the subject and went to some length educating us on the physiology of speech. We learned about all the body functions that go into mouthing words. That was all well and good, but I learned more than I needed to know.
To me speech is like the proverbial tree in the forest where we are asked if a tree fell and no one was listening would it make a sound. Using the physiology of speech, you know modulating air so vibrations are sent out, then the tree makes a sound. But if you use my definition that speech is a communication link that only is closed when it is heard, then the tree does not.
As I thought about it I began to realize how much speech has changed over the centuries, and to a large extent I think it has changed as much by the medium that transmits it as by the words themselves. As an example you write a book and it is edited, in effect your words are modified in the final product. Today there are thousands of different mediums many capable of modifying our thoughts. The internet, electronic media in all its forms, newspapers, and word of mouth are all medium in which our ideas in the form of speech can be transmitted. The big difference is that the listener now controls the medium in which thoughts are transmitted and too often their choices filter out speech that might have been of value to them.
I think it behooves us to listen intently to the speech around us and to work to make sure that we have the opportunity to balance ideas through the diversity of what we hear. Like the tree in the forest, an important idea that is not heard will just wither and die. It might not always be easy since there is so much speech going on at once, but if we listen hard enough in as many places as possible there is a good chance that we will learn something that will help us make a difference.
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“A good listener tries to understand what the other person is saying. In the end he may disagree sharply, but because he disagrees, he wants to know exactly what it is he is disagreeing with.”
Kenneth A. Wells
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Murphy’s Technology Law #1:
You can never tell which way the train went by looking at the track.
Murphy’s Technology Law #2:
Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.
Murphy’s Technology Law #3:
Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.
Murphy’s Technology Law #4:
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.
Murphy’s Technology Law #5:
An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less until he/she knows absolutely everything about nothing.
Murphy’s Technology Law #6:
Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it, and he’ll have to touch to be sure.
Murphy’s Technology Law #7:
All great discoveries are made by mistake.
Murphy’s Technology Law #8:
Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.
Murphy’s Technology Law #9:
All’s well that ends . . . period.
Murphy’s Technology Law #10:
A meeting is an event at which minutes are kept and hours are lost.
Murphy’s Technology Law #11:
The first myth of management is that it exists.
Murphy’s Technology Law #12:
A failure will not appear until a unit has passed final inspection.
Murphy’s Technology Law #13:
New systems generate new problems.
Murphy’s Technology Law #14:
To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.
Murphy’s Technology Law #15:
We don’t know one-millionth of one percent about anything.
Murphy’s Technology Law #16:
Any given program, when running, is obsolete.
Murphy’s Technology Law #17:
A computer makes as many mistakes in two seconds as 20 men working 20 years make.
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Sign in appliance store: 6-month supply of socks with each washer-drier.
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On their 50th wedding anniversary, a couple summed up the reason for their long and happy marriage.
The husband said, “I have tried never to be selfish. After all, there is no “I” in the word ‘marriage.'”‘
The wife said, “For my part, I have never corrected my husband’s spelling.”
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The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.
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My boss’ wife Sherry was exasperated with her younger sister, who bought an unreliable car and called for a ride every time it broke down. One day Sherry got yet another one of those calls. “What happened this time?” she asked.
“My brakes went out,” her sister said.
“Can you come to get me?”
“Where are you?” Sherry asked. “I’m in the drugstore,” her sister responded. “And where’s the car?”
“It’s in here with me.”
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Always listen to the experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done and why. Then do it.
Robert Heinlein
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She said: Everybody’s a comedian. I called my local home improvement store for a simple piece of advice. “I know the Sheetrock is nailed to the studs,” I said to the guy who answered the phone, “but how do I find the studs?”
“Put an ad in the personals column.” he suggested.
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The real test of friendship is: can you literally do nothing with the other person?
Can you enjoy those moments of life that are utterly simple?
Eugene Kennedy
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A primer for any couple should be the book MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS. It explains that men and women are from different planets. For example: women like to verbalize their feelings on relationships. It’s difficult for a man to even admit he’s in a relationship.
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“Deep listening is miraculous for both listener and speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand.”
Sue Patton Thoele
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Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.
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