Frank Roby

From fighting over the front seat of the car to borrowing shirts without asking, my sisters and I have fought over almost everything and anything.  These petty arguments usually involved tears, name calling, and door slamming. Luckily for my mom, like the calm after a storm, 15 minutes later and we would be laughing and smiling—just like that—as if nothing ever happened.

Disagreements are unavoidable, natural parts of life.  Some conflicts cost billions of dollars and precious human lives to resolve, while others can be fixed with in moments over a bowl of ice cream. While there is an enormous discrepancy between these two types of disputes, they both arise from the same communication problems.

Tonight’s speaker, Frank Roby, claims that the inherent problem with communication is how we approach communication. As humans, we are wired to only concentrate on the message we want to send, that we can’t concentrate on other incoming messages. We are so one-sided in our own thoughts and opinions that we find it difficult to open our minds and listen to what others have to say.  

So, how do we fix things? Understand that we must put our differences aside in order to have a meaningful conversation. Although it may sound simple, this is still a huge challenge to all of mankind. And until we find a way to successfully communicate and solve discords, siblings will still bicker and wars will still be fought.