Listening

I have realized anew recently that generally people don't listen. Not only do people not listen they don't know how to think or reason the words that were just said to him. Why is that? Do we not teach our children anymore how to listen, not hear? Because listening and hearing are completely different things. At this moment I am hearing the lady cooking on the Food Network. I can hear that she is cooking fish but I am not truly engaged with what she is saying. If I was listening to her I would be engaged with the recipe she was sharing and thinking about how I could make that myself and how to do that. People just hear, it goes in one ear and out the other. They are busy thinking of what their response will be or what is next on their agenda. Do we not teach our children how to think and reason, do we just tell them to do it and believe it because we say so. They did to learn how to think on their own, how to take facts and thoughts and mull them over in their minds and come up with their OWN thought and decision about it. Unfortunately I experience this on a daily basis on the phone. Somedays it is worse that others. Recently, I have made the intentional decision that I when I have children I will teach them how to listen, reason and think. I do not want them to come out of a conversation with someone not having learned anything new or even being able to know what they spoke about and reflect about it. I know that I still have to practice and learn to keep listening and not just hearing. Does anyone else see this problem out there or is it just me? This is something to think about and come up with your own decision. I would love to hear what you think!