I love how our first exposure as foreigners to this practice is in listening to them talk about how stupid foreigners are.

I find the part about guessing what the other part will say really interesting. Imagining yourself in the shoes of someone else is a fundamental human ability.

This seems very similar to techniques outlined in 'non-violent communication'.listening to the speaker and paraphrasing what they say to you. I wonder if Rosenberg knee of thia yanamamo way of resolving conflict or if he independently discovered it