Birds

What was that saying about birds of a feather? Seems to me whoever started that old chestnut hadn't spent a lot of time watching birds. Out my south window, I can see the neighbor's giant bird feeder. He brings it out for the winter after the bears have gone to sleep. It's a generous gift to help our feathered friends through the Colorado cold. Only, the birds I see are constantly fighting. Though they are the same species, the bigger and more aggressive birds spent most of their time fending off access to the bird feeder from the others. This, despite the fact there's an endless amount of seed and plenty of empty perches. This constant bickering and defense of what the birds perceive as theirs is kind of familiar to me. I see it daily in our comments section, our forums, the newspapers, even our stereo mags. People defending their points of view to the exclusion of others. What would happen if instead of so loudly defending our viewpoints we instead practiced the opposite? I am not referring to our ongoing struggles over facts. The inverse square law is true whether we believe it or not. But perhaps it's worth a thought to be better listeners so we might be in a position to generously offer insight to those who seek it.