Don’t be a Jerk

How Humanism can help us be better conversationalists – or should – if we don’t become jerks about it.

When you talk to others do you have an agenda?

Are you trying to show how clever you are?

Are you trying to win an argument?

Or are you genuinely curious about the other person?

Who they are and how they came to hold the views they do.

Too often we are so caught up in what we want to get out of a conversation we forget that there is a real human being on the other side.

We need to learn to talk with people instead of at them.

To do that, we have to genuinely care about what they have to say and to share.

That requires you to recognize them as a human worthy of your respect and compassion.

Even if you disagree with them.