Dialogue Final Paper Excerpt 2: Dialogue as a System

Continuing a series of excerpts from my final paper for the winter Dialogue class.

Excerpt 2: Dialogue as a System

The physicist David Bohm uses the image of a tree to represent the process of unfolding and folding that constantly surrounds us. That image is also a powerful metaphor for dialogue. A dialogue begins as a seed, the simple agreement of a group of individuals to participate in the conversation. The growth and development of the seed is heavily affected by its environment. The harsher the environment, the more a seed may struggle to sprout, in the same way that a hostile environment may make it more difficult for a dialogue to begin.

Many forces, including soil, weather and the local environment, affect the growth and development of a tree. Similarly, the individuals involved, their organizational and cultural context, and the spoken and unspoken goals of the conversation all affect dialogue. Dialogues, like trees, are also unpredictable. No two oak trees look exactly alike. No two apples taste the same. In the same way every dialogue has its own unique character.