Sometimes people tell us things, and although we hear the words, the intended meaning sails on by us into the ether. Sometimes we know we don’t understand, sometimes we don’t care if we understand, and most of the time we interpret what we hear according to our own context and experience and carry on from there, blithely unaware of our own assumption.
Perhaps, what a good word. It encompasses the possibility that communication is not an exact science. Context is so very important in understanding words, sentences, paragraphs, and information at any scale.
One thing I have learned over the years, is that one cannot assume that what you want to hear is what the other person or AI is saying. In the art of listening, one must take responsibility for oneself, and be cognizant that ones own context is not a universal basis for communication.
It is in this invisible space between what is said, and what is heard, that much chicanery takes place. There are those who are adept at phrasing words, and using language, in such a way as to deliberately capture the assumptions of the unsuspecting, while saying something unpalatable. Some people call this the “forked tongue”, others have referred to it as “double speak”.
An example I can think of has been in advertising. Some small electric appliances for pressure canning have used the phrase “meets USDA standards”. This leaves the impression that the USDA has looked at the product and approved it. Thousands of consumers have assumed this means the appliance is tested by the USDA and found safe, I have interacted with and read statements made by many of these consumers. This is not the case, the appliances are not USDA tested and approved, and the statement makes no such claim. “Meets USDA standards” merely expresses the company’s own assessment of their product, while not making the illegal statement “USDA Approved”. Some of the electric pressure canners have been tested at recognized University labs, and they failed to meet USDA standards.
The world is full of such forms of communication.
It is not that you can’t trust anyone, it is that you cannot trust everyone.
Worldly
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Quote
“There’s the disingenuous duplicitousness, but you can apply that to every politician, really.”
David Cross
1964 –
An excellent short essay on missed communication. I might like to quote it sometime, with your permission.
Thank you Steve Paul for your kind words.
If you find an opportunity to quote my words here, permission is surely granted.
This is true. To add to the difficulties, now USDA standards have been changed, they aren’t trustworthy anymore. They are now allowing all sorts of pesticides with PFAS, that they didn’t before. I aim to get organic or European made.
Teri, I agree the standards of the USDA seem to be slipping, so sad. Most of the information about pressure canning is from decades ago, so fairly reliable.
One thing that I find fascinating is that despite all the crazy untested canning recipes and techniques on social media, the one serious problem, botulism incidences, do not seem to be increasing in number. There are still home canning deaths, but they are few and far between. Although I still practice safe canning techniques, I no longer have any qualms about botulism in properly canned items.
We don’t use pesticides, but even so we will be affected by them if they are used in the yards around us, and in the environment. Organic sounds like the way to go!
A lot of malfeasance can be hidden behind/within words. Sadly, it’s something we often have to deal with on almost a daily basis.
Teri, it seems to be worsening, but it is hard for me to tell because I always thought power structures were warped and unworthy of praise.
Yes. There might be a rebound effect, though. People may begin to value and expect kindness and honesty all the more.
I was thinking about what you said about feeling that power structures were always warped. It does depend on the government you’re talking about, countries, time period. I mean, right now people are recently seeing that maybe things weren’t as bad as some had previously thought. When a government can’t function at all, you start to see it wasn’t so bad in the past.
Teri, it would be grand indeed if the expectation of kindness and honesty were predominant.
Hindsight is something that only survivors experience, those who live to tell the tale, they write the history. I personally find that looking back, things were better, but part of that is having survived those experiences.