Learning to Hear

My book examines the tricks of the trade and forms of collective support for crafting our largely unconscious practices of hearing. As we live our daily lives, our hearing generally seems something that we “have,” not something that we “do.” But people learn that they must develop their hearing when they enter a wide variety of occupations and activities. I investigate some of the strategies and techniques for working on competent hearing, taking as my focus the fields of medicine, music, outdoor adventuring, and Morse code operation. The four studies show that hearing is considerably more varied than we often assume. In examining what it takes to become competent, the book explodes myths of genius, natural talent, or the idea that certain skills are the province of particular kinds of people. Overcoming the social distance between insiders and outsiders requires access to the collectively supported ways that seemingly natural sense abilities are cultivated to competency.

Readers can approach this book in different ways. If you are particularly interested in musicians or mountaineering, then you might like to sink your teeth into the world of your choosing first. One of the strengths of the book is its comparative look at the strategies for cultivating the ear. Having read about hearing in one case, you might find yourself gripped by the ways in which it is cultivated and done elsewhere. If you start at the beginning, you will be first introduced to the idea that our senses are specialised and the story of the project. You will then read about doctors, musicians, outdoor adventurers, and Morse code operation. The final chapter grapples with where this study sits within multiple traditions of philosophy and social theory.