(Friday, 2015)
One potential barrier to listening is close-mindedness. As a doctor, Alex Lowe has to maintain a professional front when dealing with people who have differing opinions, especially parents who are closed-minded. "Closed-minded individuals refuse to consider the merits of a speaker's point if it conflicts with their own beliefs" (Floyd, 2011, p. 233). In the first episode of the fifth season, Alex encounters this kind of behavior from a patent's mother. Mrs. Ellison shows her closed-mindedness upon finding out that her son has the measles.
"Oh, the measles! Thank God. I thought it was something serious," she says.
"The measles are serious, Mrs. Ellison," Alex replies, "and completely unnecessary. If you had followed my advice and had Max vaccinated, then we wouldn't be-"
"We did what we thought was right," Mrs. Ellison says (Murphy & Falchuk, 2015).
Mrs. Ellison refuses to listen to Alex's professional advice, because it goes against her personal beliefs about vaccinations. "When we refuse even to listen to ideas we disagree with, we limit our ability to learn from other people and their experience" (Floyd, 2011, p. 233). Indeed, if Mrs. Ellison had listened to the merits of Alex's advice, she could have avoided her child getting extremely sick.
"Our children are at risk from so much in this world. We can never protect them from all of it, but when there's something we can do to make it just a little bit safer, we do it," Alex says (Murphy & Falchuk, 2015).
"Oh, the measles! Thank God. I thought it was something serious," she says.
"The measles are serious, Mrs. Ellison," Alex replies, "and completely unnecessary. If you had followed my advice and had Max vaccinated, then we wouldn't be-"
"We did what we thought was right," Mrs. Ellison says (Murphy & Falchuk, 2015).
Mrs. Ellison refuses to listen to Alex's professional advice, because it goes against her personal beliefs about vaccinations. "When we refuse even to listen to ideas we disagree with, we limit our ability to learn from other people and their experience" (Floyd, 2011, p. 233). Indeed, if Mrs. Ellison had listened to the merits of Alex's advice, she could have avoided her child getting extremely sick.
"Our children are at risk from so much in this world. We can never protect them from all of it, but when there's something we can do to make it just a little bit safer, we do it," Alex says (Murphy & Falchuk, 2015).
AHS-Hotel-AntiVax from Mauricio Garcia on Vimeo.
(Murphy & Falchuk, 2015)