Why Do Humans Have Two Ears But Only One Mouth?

DJ Smith / Feb 11th / Comments

As absurd a question as this may seem, you have to wonder if most people, including physicians, know the answer. Dr. Alicia Conill, a clinical associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, recently wrote and read an essay for NPR’s This I Believe series that confirms the need for physicians and caregivers to take the advice of philosopher Epictetus and listen twice as much as they speak. She speaks of a study that noted that on average a physician would interrupt a patient talking within 18 seconds. Click here listen to Dr. Conill tell her story.

Now, more than any time in history, we have the ability to communicate faster, more frequently, and with a much larger audience. Our communications can race around the virtual autobahn called the Information Super Highway with no speed limits. With the technology we have at our disposal, it is easy to understand why our attention spans are shorter and our minds race at light speed. Still, when a patient is in their physician’s office it’s usually for a reason that they would like to talk about. It is at those points of contact that the microwave life of a physician collides with the crock-pot concerns of the patient and the trouble begins. Just as Dr. Conill learned through her experience, better care comes to the patient if the physician will stop and carefully listen to the story of the patient rather than their own. That’s why we were given two ears and only one mouth.