The great thing about society is that it is made up of all different sorts of people, with different backgrounds, different priorities, and different ways of thinking. The reason that this is good is because if everyone thought the same, wanted the same, and did the same, the redundancy of such would be incredibly boring. That is why it’s good to interact with people that do not have the same background as we do, or of the same opinion, for it makes for not only a more interesting engagement one to the other, but also it permits us to get a different perspective on things, which helps to expand our own viewpoint.
So too, it’s good that what motivates us isn’t necessarily going to be the same thing that motivates another person, which is why we need to pay attention to other people, so that we can ascertain what it is or is not that seems to resonate with them, because in doing so, it helps us to relate to one another, better. After all, to assume that everybody has the exact same motivation is to assume that we all think alike, and this simply is not true, which reflects that not only is listening important, but also that we should want to know people at a level at which we can have a more meaningful interaction with them, which is accomplished by us knowing what motivates the other, and what gives them purpose in life.
That is to say, we can’t claim that we are engaged with the other if we haven’t bothered to do our good part to know the other, which requires that we try to ascertain what makes them tick, and thereby what is of importance to them. Indeed, the more interest that we show in the other, by knowing what their motivations are, the more the substance of our conversations and interactions will have a more impactful meaning. After all, it’s very easy to have easy conversations, in which nothing of real import is discussed, but if we are to know somebody else, we need to get beyond mere niceties to that which gets to the meat of the matter.
Additionally, we can’t expect others to really care about us if we haven’t shown that we care about them, and one way that we demonstrate that we do care is to know people at a level in which there is a good rapport between one to the other. This is why we should do our good part to find out what a person’s passions and values really are, which will help us to understand them better, in knowing what they truly care about, and in doing this, we will help to build a relationship that has purpose behind it. Indeed, the more insight that we have into the other, the better we will be able to help them handle the vicissitudes of life, and in this, to be a good and valued friend, for not just caring, but in our sincere empathy, which comes from knowing the other.