Download Some Malfunctions of Communication

Some Malfunctions of
Communication
•Communication is imperfect
• Reality is infinite and complex and we communicate
about reality
• Every mental filter is unique so people don’t
understand exactly same thing even by same words
• Language uses words which loosely refer to the
reality, just like a globe and the real world
• Due to all these reasons, miscommunication takes
place
Malfunction also stem from:
• Language imperfections
• Incorrect thinking pattern
• General semanticists believe that Aristotlian
logic is the main cause of 5 malfunctions. They
are:
Two –valued thinking
• It is also called either/or logical pattern in our
culture
• In some of the cases two valued thinking
works well.
• For example, You will fail or pass in an examyou will have children or not- you will earn
money or not…
• But most of the time multi-valued situation
exists
Multi-valued Situation
• We should not put things in extreme all the time.
For example, all people are not either fat or skinny,
things are not either hot or cold, people are not
either black or white…
• English language contains an abundance of
either/or words and there is an extreme shortage of
in- between words. For example, Sweet Vs sourwhat are the tastes in between them? What do you
call them?
The danger involved
• If two valued words are appropriate, use them
• If not, don’t use them
• For example, Are workers either lazy or
industrious? What about the degree of their
laziness? Can you call political leaders either
liberal or conservatives? If I am not good, can
you call me bad?
• The answer is – we must try to avoid such
mistakes. Multi-valued situation also exists.
Then what to do?
• Try to be specific in choice of words
• Don’t always fall in the trap of two-valued thinking
• Try to use quantitative measures such as instead of
“she is an excellent student” say “ She has got 3.9
CGPA. Instead of saying “ he is fat” say “he is 300
pound in five foot 4 inch frame”!
• Use middle ground words if necessaryexceptionally, moderately as well as etc.
• To talk about taste you can use- sweet, sour, sugary,
saccharine, candied, honeyed, acidic, tart,
astringent, vinegary, acetous, etc.
Ctd.
• The sentences like “ the 4 functions of
communication…” might be dangerous
because there might be 5 or more functions of
communication!
• Avoid such know-it-all statements.
Applications in Business communication
• Two- valued thinking applies to reports,
letters, and speaking too
• Sometimes we need yes or no answers in
business but not always. Compromised
decisions or other alternatives often are
possible.
2. Fact-inference confusion
• Some experiences are actual. Communication about
our experiences is true communication. For
example, I bought a car in five hundred thousand.
• But we can not always be factual.
• We need to talk about events or things which we
really don’t know. We just need to infer. For
example, I saw Harry in a new bike and I asked him
how much did he pay for that. Actually it was not
his bike. I inference was wrong.
• Such inferences might result in miscommunication.
Need for inferences
• We can’t totally avoid inferences. We can’t limit
ourselves to what we know. We need to infer. We
need to predict many things.
• We can’t know everything with which we must
deal in life.
• But inferences involve risks. To live, we must
calculate risks and make inferences. For example,
When you are driving and see an approaching car,
you will infer that the other driver is a normal
person like you who will not just kill you and get
killed! If your inference turned out to be wrong,
you will have a tough time.
Ctd.
• We must infer that cooks in restaurants are
normal human beings and they don’t poison
us without any reason. But sometimes our
inferences turns out to be wrong and we may
get poisoned!
• So we must make inferences in our life. But
they can be a source of miscommunication.
Effect of inferences on communication
• When we are unable to distinguish between
fact and inference, that may bring problems.
• For example , I saw some baldheaded sales
person who made a good sale and I made a
conclusion-”All bald-headed sales persons are
great since they make good sales”. The truth is
that I may be wrong.
• We must understand the risk of inferences.
We should calculate well before we speak.
Calculating the probabilities
• While using inferences, we must calculate the
probabilities of correctness of our inferences.
• Sometimes the book you saw in a library shelf
might not be a book. It might be just a cover!
• While making inferences, be aware of reality
and check inferences against it.
Its importance in BC
• Fact-inference confusion has many consequences
for business communication.
• In report writing, it plays a great role. Sometimes,
we must infer.
• While interpreting facts, we must generalize.
• Fact-inference confusion might play a vital role even
in letter writing. In a letter refusing a request, for
example, a bluntly worded answer is likely to lead
the reader to infer that the writer is unfriendly.
• Application letter with errors might result into
negative judgments from employers.
3. The Blocked Mind
• A blocked mind is one that is closed to reality
• It works on limited information and ignores or
rejects additional information
• It is partially correct
Ctd.
A result of opinions, attitudes and beliefs
• Our tendencies to reject the ideas that oppose
our viewpoints is a cause of the blocked mind
• It might seriously hamper communication
Ctd.
A result of allness
• Allness contributes to the blocked mind. It is the
tendency to judge the whole by part.
• It happens because of our pride that we know
everything.
• It is the result of ignoring the facts. We select few
characteristics and boast that we know
everything.
• We tend to think that our limited reference is the
whole.
Ctd..
• For example, we say that Einstein was a scientist.
Is he just a scientist? Is he not a father? Is he not
somebody’s lover?...
• Emphasizing only on one characteristics leads to
stereotyping
• For example, you bought a detergent and it spoilt
your cotton cloth. You concluded that detergent
is not good for cloth.
• But it might be good for woolen clothes. so it is
dangerous to make hasty stereotypes.
Extreme effects of the blocked mind
•
•
•
•
Blocked mind prevent good communication
Know-it-all results from blocked mind
Actually nobody knows about everything
Arguments result from blocked mind. If both
of the parties have blocked mind, they will
continue their argument/quarrel.
Unblocking the mind
• It is difficult to unblock our mind but it is possible
to a great extent
• 100% unblocking is impossible but it is possible to
unblock to a certain degree about certain things.
• We should try to find out rational approaches.
We should have eagerness to learn.
• We should try to be rational, try to learn as much
as possible, ask questions, check your
understanding against reality all the time.
Ctd..
• We should always add “etc” to all statements
that we speak. It is because we know only a
little about reality.
• Alfred Korzybski asked people to use “etc’ at
the end of almost all statements to be on the
safe side. At least, we should use it mentally.
Effects on Business Communication
• Blocked minds seriously hamper business
activities
• You make reports, but your boss is not ready
to understand
• You say something and they understand
something else.
4. The static viewpoint
• We often view reality as static. Because reality
is always changing, such views cause
miscommunication .
The unstatic nature of things
• Reality is changing. We must realize this fact.
A thief is not always a thief.
• We must have up-to-date references of people
and places. The reality changes and we must
accept this fact.
The contributing factor of language
• Language is limited and it does not allow us to
acknowledge all changes in reality.
• We have tenses, dates, and time references in
our language but they are not enough.
• For example, we say- Henry is a scoundrel.
When? Was he a scoundrel at the age of 5?Is
he always a scoundrel? Better say- Henry, age
35, is a scoundrel.
The static viewpoint in business
communication
• Written and oral communication in business
must reflect time changes, if they do not,
miscommunication will occur.
5. Failure to discriminate
• Uniqueness is common to all events and
objects. Thus, seeing similarities rather than
differences is contrary to the nature of things.
It also results in miscommunication, to some
degree.
• Language, built on broad categories force us
to view similarities. But no two objects are
same.
Miscommunication from stereotypes
• Focusing on similarities force us to form
serotypes . But because everything in reality is
unique, stereotypes can not be true to fact.
• Professor refers to tens of thousands of people in
the world. Just think about the differences
between and among them!
• We hold many serotypes, but all of them distort
reality. Are all women same? Are all apples same?
Are all grains of sand same? No. There are
differences that stereotypes distort.
Judgments by categories
• We try to make judgments trying to cover all things
within a category.
• We try to judge professors by some generalized
remarks. Is it possible?
• We try to judge thieves? Is it true that all thieves are
same and they deserve same punishment?
• We often make judgments such as – students are like
this…Are our judgments true? Can we make such
generalized statements ignoring the variety that exists?
• There are differences even within same categories.
Extreme judgment by category are often incorrect.
They often miscommunicate.
Developing an awareness of
differences
• Be aware of the differences that exists within all
categories
• Another way is to index references. For example,
professor 1, professor 2 etc.
• At least do it at mental level
• Mentally index all statements that involve
stereotypes. For example, woman ,which
woman? professor, which professor? Etc.
• In business environment, we need to be aware of
such differences.
Miscommunication Summarized
• We have noted five malfunctions of
communication. Each of them has variations.
• To avoid miscommunication, one advice is :
keep in touch with reality, be better
acquainted with the real world and check our
communication against it.
• When our communication and the real world
are not in harmony, we will have
miscommunication.
Questions
a. What are the factors that cause malfunction
of communication? Explain each of them
with examples.
b. How can we minimize such errors in our
communication? Give suggestion.
Thank You!