That's only true for superficial relationships. For anything deeper - friendship, relationship, parental relationship, even a deeper professional relationship -

That's only true for superficial relationships. For anything deeper - friendship, relationship, parental relationship, even a deeper professional relationship - it's important that the other person hears, understands, and remembers what you say. Because it may well be important later. Obviously no one expects perfect recall, especially of conversations from some time ago. But active listening and remembering are important in building up an accurate picture of the other person, and deep mirroring relies on deep and useful insight. It's a completely different kind of interaction to superficial nodding and mirroring.