On the elevation of apes

I think one of the problems with Western culture is the idea that all the onus is on the person who tries to communicate, to make themselves understood by others. Thus you have the absurdity of functional illiterates, throwing up their arms in fake despair, because they haven't bothered to take the time to actually listen. They make out that others have to work harder to get their message across, or simplify it a lot, or simply change their message, so that these illiterates can understand it. In short, they demand that something complex or unfamiliar be reduced to something familiar and already known. If the onus were rather more on the reader or listener to understand what is being said, that is if there were more of a balance between the speaker and the listener, we would have far fewer stupid flame wars and individuals would actually gain deeper self understanding.