“Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we’re listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.”- Karl A. Menninger
https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_5_ways_to_listen_better?language=en
In the TED talk above, author Julian Treasure discusses the concept of listening. He said, "every human being needs to listen consciously in order to live fully -- connected in space and in time to the physical world around us, connected in understanding to each other, not to mention spiritually connected, because every spiritual path I know of has listening and contemplation at its heart." Doesn't that sound like the definition and philosophy of Aikido?
Conflict usually happens somewhere around the intersection of misunderstandings, hurt feelings and emotions. Could listening be the antidote for conflict? I don't know for sure but it sure sounds like it by the way Julian Treasure talks.
In Aikido, there is no fighting, struggle, collision or any other confrontation. In order to truly do Aikido, one must embrace O Sensei's philosophy of non-violence at every level and that includes how we listen which is an extension of how we think and what we believe.