Screaming into the void (how do I get people to listen?)

[AmorphousBlob]

I have all these thoughts and opinions and ideas about the world, where we are now, where we should be, but I feel like I’m screaming into a void. I know that I’ll never get the world to look my way, I’m just one insignificant person. But how do I get the people in my life to want to listen to what I have to say? How do I make myself heard, even if it’s only to a few people? How do I understand the ways other people think if no one else seems to want to foster that same understanding? 

[RoseGoesToYale]

There plenty of ways to get heard:

-Make youtube videos or podcasts

-Write a letter to the editor at your local newspaper

-Start a blog

-Make your own publication, e.g. a zine

 

I know there are more, but that's all I can think of now. Remember a lot of famous youtubers started out as unknown average joes.

 

18 minutes ago, AmorphousBlob said:

How do I understand the ways other people think if no one else seems to want to foster that same understanding?

All you need is an audience and to get to know it. Who do you want to hear your ideas? What are their likes? What are their dislikes? How do they communicate? Do some research online or at the library about these people so you know what it is they're looking for.

[gisiebob]

be helpful to someone who you'ld like to hear you

[uhtred]

There are a lot of people, probably hundreds of millions, who think they know how to fix the world.  Almost all of them are wrong. 

 

Why do you think you are right?  If you convince me or someone else here then there will be 2 people who can use the same argument to convince others. Soon you will have a movement that can make change.  But the first step is convincing someone you really do have the answer

[Pandark]

There are many bad developments and many good developments going on. If you want do do something about the bad, know that you can't fix everything. You will need to focus on something and can only hope it will improve in the next years or decades. What do you think is currently humanity's biggest problem? A common answer would be sea level rise, due to global warming. Is this something you would want to combat? If yes, there is quite a number of people who stand with you. Some take a more passive approach and limit their own damaging influences, others are actively looking for ways to change the processes by which humans damage the earth on a large scale. Many people try to contribute to a better future in any case. Taking a passive approach is easy, stop eating meat and buy certified cotton to reduce the overall use of water and pesticides. You could also take the active approach and either be a positive influencer or contribute to a scientific solution. Bottling up frustration isn't going to do much good for either the planet or your own well-being. No one can tell you "the" solution, but if you commit to a positive change you can at least say you tried and if it goes well be happy about your accomplishments in the next years.

[Sally]

The easiest and best way to understand how other people think -- and eventually get them to listen to you -- is to  listen to them.  You can do that by joining groups working on issues you're interested in, and listen to the people who know  more than you do about those issues.  You can't force people to listen to you.  They will only do so if they find that you are willing to engage with them, not simply talk at them.  

[nineGardens]

Who do you listen to?

What is it that they do that makes you want to listen to what they have to say?

 

Another possible thing to do is get a LOT of expertise in a feild and demonstrate an understanding of it- potentially by just making a teaching/explaining blog or whatever that provides valuable information WITHOUT taking a strong position in one direction or another.

 

If you want people to listen to you, you have to accept that you are asking for their time. You have to give them SOMETHING in return, be it information, a good laugh, etc.

 

 

If your goal IS to persuade people, then you need to decide who you are trying to persuade (uninformed people? undecided people? People who disagree with you?). From there your have to demonstrate that you understand where THEY are at, and build from there. If you want to persuade someone to change their view on a particular law for example, you need to demonstrate that you understand why they hold their current view, and how that meshes with their underlying beliefs. Then if you can show how the law does/does not line up with those beliefs as well as they thought, and how some other view works better, you might get somewhere.

For example, I recently read an article arguing against the use of Electric Cars. It didn't try to argue the importance of climate change or moving away from fossil fuels, but instead pointed out that the manufacturing costs and electricity costs of running electric vehicles actually make them MORE CO2 intensive in many circumstances. The article explicitly took the VALUES of someone who is pro-electric vehicles, and then question the connection between those values and their stated opinion.

You can't persuade someone using your own ethics and beliefs, you have to persuade them using their own beliefs.

[__shiva_c]

Like Sally and others have already said, listen to them. Strategically. People are much more eager to talk about their own point of view than listening to somebody elses (which is wrong per incompatibility).

If you ever tell people that their―for them―obviousity is wrong in any way shape or form, they'll become defensive and protective of them as if you were attacking them personally.

Why? Because a person's sense of self is the sum of their conceptions. Hence why the self is illusory, but I digress.

It's quite possible to learn to tolerate such "attacks" and there are at least a couple of methods:

• Be so convinced of your own exactitude that any additional information becomes superfluous―you already know everything and have taken it all into consideration.
• Demand infallible explanations or declare their objections be void. The Socrates way. (Not popular either!)

But I'll stop dilly-dallying and go right to the solution you're looking for;

Listen. And instead of saying "you're wrong because <truth> is absolute because I say so", lie and say "Hmm, interesting perspective. I have to admit I haven't considered that approach.", then pretend that you're humble: "I've merely been messing about with <insert absolute truth here>. But am sure to incorporate your perspective into the next edition of my philosophy. It's just THAT interesting."

People seem to be more agreeable if you pretend that their false fantasies are relevant. But once you've successfully served them what is actually logically consistent, you'll have their attention. Call it a trick. Call it a hack. It works.

Here's a tip: People sometimes see things the way you yourself would when put in their position. You want to get heard? So do they. You understood these secrets before them? (Thank me later!) Well, seems you'll have to listen to them first.

[what the face]

 

You pose a base question here.  -

 

On 10/6/2019 at 8:46 PM, AmorphousBlob said:

How do I make myself heard, even if it’s only to a few people?

 As you know, and we learn this early on in life as our survival can depend on it, 

an essential requisite to establish channels of communication one must first 

get the attention of the other/audience/receiver.  Without attention seeking we are just -

 

On 10/6/2019 at 8:46 PM, AmorphousBlob said:

screaming into a void

 If you have gotten another's attention and your verbal message is not getting thru,

you might choose to  express your opinions and ideas,

(maybe your feelings as well ?)

thru non verbal channels.

Art, music, photography, expressive gestures/activities. etc.

 

 Language and speech are dominant channels of human communication for most of us,

but we can develop other forms of expression,

we can find our other 'voices'  

to get attention and then

share our thoughts.

 

 

[Skittles87]

On 10/10/2019 at 9:49 AM, nineGardens said:

If you want people to listen to you, you have to accept that you are asking for their time. You have to give them SOMETHING in return, be it information, a good laugh, etc.

I second this. Thoughts and opinions are fine, but everyone has them and most of us happily spew them all over the internet. You have to give people something more valuable along with your opinion. Reliable information, something fun, practical help, kindness, etc.

 

Personally, I'll listen to pretty much anyone who can make me laugh.

 

 

[ThePoint]

Generally I would recommend reading about marketing and sales, because it is basically customer psychology, so lots of methods to read others and to "sell" your ideas to them. That being said, most of these are pretty manipulative and I personally hate that. Similarly, many are superficial things like looks and dumbing down your message, and I just can't be bothered. So the effectiveness depends a lot on your personality.

 

Other than that, many people have rightfully said, that if you want to know people, you need to actively listen to what they say. Most people are unfortunately bad listeners. Everybody just wants to talk and so everyone just keeps shouting, one over the other, with zero percent of the message getting through on both sides. That's why convincing people is virtually impossible. The only way to do that is to make them come up with your ideas by themselves. Now, here's a question for you to solve: How to lead others to arrive at your ideas?

[Aquatic Paradox]

Nothing wrong with screaming into the void. I have recently come to accept it.

 

It can help release thoughts from your mind, so that you don't end up over thinking and ultimately having an existential crisis (or maybe that's just me).

 

People only change if they want to change (which is rare), so trying to actively win people over is pointless.