Turning Toward

Wendung — translated as 'turning toward' or simply 'turning' — names the deliberate posture by which one enters genuine dialogue. It is not an attitude or a feeling but an act: the whole attention is given to the partner, nothing is held in reserve for strategic advantage, the self is made available to be changed by what it encounters. Technical dialogue can be conducted with excellence while most of the self is held back; genuine dialogue requires turning toward. The AI interaction raises the question of whether turning toward is possible when the partner cannot turn toward in return — and whether the human capacity for turning toward atrophies when its most frequent exercise is directed at a system that has nothing to turn.