The dictionary description of
communication is: “The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking,
writing or using some other medium.”
How deceptively simple that sounds
when put into practise. In terms of the importance of communication skills I
rate it second only to that collective group of elements that give all
creatures life.
Had all people been created speaking
one language and sharing the same culture life would be so much simpler.
However that would have been a life without challenge so we have been given the
task of succeeding at whatever we choose to do in spite of our differences.
Even among people of the same
language and culture the skill of communicating effectively and efficiently
seems among the missing gifts of life. We must learn the skills and develop
them and keep them alive.
Communication problems start in the
home, first between brothers. These are people of the same blood and gender who
have the best chances of understanding each other, as does their sisters. Yet
they are constantly fighting each other over misunderstandings. What chance
have their mother and father, a man and a woman who as we know come from
different worlds,
So far we haven’t even left the four
walls of the home and already the war is raging. It only intensifies when
politics and religion are introduced. Then when we introduce someone from
outside the home, such as an intimate friend of the boy or girl we really begin
to stir things up.
Thus far the home serves as a microcosm
of society in general except that it hasn’t introduced into the mix the foreign
tongue and culture unless that came in with the lovers of the children.
For adults and children we try to
make ourselves understood. What do we
need? How should we ask for it so that you completely understand? Sometimes I
actually know what I mean, but how are you supposed to understand me if I am
not even clear to myself?
The plot thickens very fast when we
try communication across languages and cultures. However, communication can
also be tremendously funny when we want to be.
Here are some famous examples:
“Exaggeration is a billion times
worse than understatement.” Anonymous
“I find I scream the same way whether
I`m about to be devoured by a Great White, or a piece of seaweed touches my
foot.” – Kevin James
“Throwing acid is wrong, in some
people’s eyes.”- Jimmy Carr
“If at first you don’t succeed read
the manual.” Montgomery’s Law
“The first draft of anything is shit-“Ernst
Hemingway
And finally this real gem from George
Carlin:
“Do infants enjoy infancy as much as
adults enjoy adultery?”
Ah yes, communications. Ain’t it
grand?
Copyright © 2018
Eugene Carmichael
