Q&A: Is It Worth Listening to What Every Person Has to Say?
Is It Worth Listening to What Every Person Has to Say?
Question
You once wrote:
”
Many philosophers (perhaps most of them) who already had a well-formed worldview were not really occupied with listening to others. You can see a similar phenomenon among rabbis and Torah scholars: once they are already formed, they read fewer articles and opinions by others, since their worldview has already taken shape (they have passed the listening stage, assuming there ever was such a stage). This is natural and reasonable, even if not really recommended, for someone whose worldview is already formed. That does not disqualify him from joining the community of scholars, nor does it mean there is nothing to learn from him.
”
Do you still stand by that today?
Couldn’t that cause a person to become “foolish”?
Answer
I no longer remember, but it definitely sounds reasonable to me. Of course it is always preferable to listen more, but it is natural that once someone has a formed worldview, he tends to listen less. That is human nature.