When Will Humans Learn How to Communicate?
An Old Lady’s Deep Thoughts #2 …
Have you noticed that almost nothing is what it seems?
No two people see the world the same. Furthermore, we don’t effectively communicate what we think we see because language is up for interpretation. No wonder we have trouble getting along. So if you’re talking to me about what you think you see, clear down to the color red, rest assured, I don’t see what you do.
If you try to explain it to me, the true meaning of your words is lost once they leave your mouth and enter my ears. They’re lost in translation. Ain’t life a weirdly f______ up thing. As if getting along isn’t hard enough, our modern world is filled with misinformation, deliberate lies, mixed messages, vast cultural differences, language barriers, varied experiences, and propaganda.
I’m amazed that we don’t create more conflict than we already do.
A meeting of the minds, even for a few brief seconds, is a miracle and something to be treasured. Yet, you can never be sure that the mind of the other person truly grasped your perspective. We tend to make huge assumptions that what we share was spoken and aligned with whomever we were conversing with, but more often than not, that’s just not true.
Maybe we should write our thoughts down instead of depending on the spoken word.
Unfortunately, it may be even harder to communicate through writing. There are multiple interpretations of thousands and thousands of words. As if that’s not tricky enough, something as simple as a misplaced comma can completely change what we were trying to say. In addition, the written word lacks tone of voice, facial expression, and body language. We believe we’ve written and rewritten the best sentence possible to carry a thought, but our message is easily lost.
Just think about this. We attempt to solve world problems with words.
Did you know that when the Japanese began translating Western romance novels, they first had to invent a word in their language for romantic love? We assume that translating can be word for word, but that isn’t the case. To be truly diplomatic in a complicated world, one must understand the complexities of language barriers.
But, hey, we struggle to communicate with the ones we love, never mind the world at large.
Maybe this helps explain why we often feel lonely. We come into this world alone, leave this world alone, and spend the time in between struggling to be understood. What a thrill when we stumble across another person who “gets us”.
What do you think?
Teresa is an author and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
