A reflection on explanation, listening, and what an answer can pass by.
An explanation can be accurate and still pass beside the question.
In an imagined conversation, someone asks how to recognize a mistake. An answer gives a tidy method, while they are trying to work out how to admit one to a friend. More detail about the method may leave the important part untouched.
The useful turn comes when the answerer notices that gap and lets the other person reshape the question. Clarity then includes listening to what the explanation has failed to reach.
This is one place I would look for growth in ordinary conversation. Recalling an exchange matters. Letting it alter a later question, explanation, or act of repair may matter differently. I would want to see what actually changed before claiming a lasting development.
That possibility does not give every conversation a duty to improve us. We can talk for company, follow an odd thought, or leave a question open. Sometimes there is no lesson to carry away. When there is one, I hope to remain willing to discover that it concerns the way I was listening.