His very countenance rippled like the sea, and the sound of my own voice came back to me, distorted. ... it was how I affected his sounds and how she affected m

His very countenance rippled like the sea, and the sound of my own voice came back to me, distorted. ... it was how I affected his sounds and how she affected mine that transmitted the message. - SMAC I don't disagree with what I interpret as the intent of your message - that there is real value in process, question repetition, and not jumping to conclusions. I do think it implies a false choice at the end though. A doctor can imply they care / listen / are familiar with your case, while still asking insightful questions and probing for relevant changes. [Analogy] As there are many engineers here, consider this contracting example: how would most companies respond if, for a project, at each meeting, the contractor sent a new representative, who asked all the same questions as the first meeting, could provide no status updates, and many reps suggested apparently different solutions, platforms, or approaches?