Suspension.

Suspension of judgment not as an absence of critical thought, but as suspending value judgments is critical (Bohm, 1996). According to Krishnamurti, individuals must drop their personae, the masks they wear, in order for dialogue to emerge (Boga, 2004). Bohm is clear that the suspension of judgment does not mean that one gives up their identity or individualities, but that space is made for new ideas to emerge.

As I mentioned previously, Fisher and Ury’s (1981) “principled negotiation” includes the strategies to separate people from the problem and to focus on interests which both seem to be related to the criteria of re-humanizing the other and suspending judgment.

Suspension in Bohm’s dialogue is dynamism of thought. Space is created in which not only is the other allowed to exist, but the self is allowed to change. Finally, the notion that dialogue is “without sides” suggests the idea of suspension of judgment of self and others: “You relax your certainty and listen to the possibilities that result simply from being in relationship with others …” (Isaacs,1999a, p19).