I can't HEAR you!

I love this sentence from the piece about the Internet generation being lousy jurors: "Orality is the crucial ingredient of the adversarial system." Really rolls off the tongue. Anyway:

In a speech, Lord Judge of Draycote, the Lord Chief Justice, said it might be better to present information for young jurors on screens because that is how they were used to digesting information.

He said: "Most are technologically proficient. Many get much information from the internet. They consult and refer to it. They are not listening. They are reading. "One potential problem is whether, learning as they do in this way, they will be accustomed, as we were, to listening for prolonged periods.

"Even if they have the ability to endure hours and days of sitting listening, how long would it be before some ask for the information on which they have to make their decision to be provided in forms which adapt to modern technology?

This inability -- or unwillingness -- to listen probably endangers a lot more than the system of jury trials. A lot of things -- classroom learning and military training come to mind -- depend on interaction with someone you must pay attention to.