5  Mundane and Profound

Communication is at once both deeply mundane and profound. We all communicate all the time, often without a second thought, let alone a first. That’s not surprising for such a common activity. Yet, communication remains an overlooked profound activity. It’s worth pausing to note what that means. We’ll return to these broad topics throughout the book’s material.

5.1 Outward Influences Inward

A simplistic definition of communication is as a process of information transfer. Consider the process of communicating complex information, the results of a research project which are known only to the person who has done the work1. In this case articulating results for the consumption by a specific audience is now a part of the learning process itself. In trying to express the results – to form a relevant set of statements – we refine and deepen our understanding of what exactly we are investigating. That is, our outward expression influences our inward understanding2.

  • 1 Here, we can easily substitute a concept, or a thought, for results.

  • 2 Readers may justly make connections between this point and related themes, such as the use of teaching a topics as a means of mastering it fully, and the ability to explain complex ideas to a novice as evidence of mastery. We’ll return to both these concepts in later sections.

    • 5.2

    Communication of factual information is intertwined with personal and social context. The personal emotional and memory of experiences of the recipient, along with the social ethics, morals, structure, and status symbols influences how what a STEMian may view as context-free information.3

  • 3 Another perspective on this topic is that “we are none of us islands”. We all exist in an inter-connected world and so to does the information we communicate.

    • 5.3 Assumption Fallout

    We are constantly making assumptions about the world around us, many unconsciously. Every interaction with have with another person, directly or indirectly is proceeds smoothly when we share assumptions. This of driving in traffic or using a new product. We assume a common understanding of the world around us and conflicts arise when those assumptions are not harmonious. In communication we assume plenty, both explicitly and implicitly, of the recipient. Recognizing that this occurs is important, but it begs three very difficult questions. What are those assumptions, really? Can we know how valid those assumptions actually are? And finally, were changes in our behavior beneficial or not? We can never truly know what it’s like to be another person, but it seems that we convince ourselves this is possible.4

  • 4 In expanding the topic, this kind of thinking reminds me of “What is it like to

    • 5.4 Self-awareness

    Communication, as some point, forces us to develop awareness, in particular, self-awareness. That is, we are tasked with understanding our own limitations, motivations, biases, goals and thereby our true desires. Communication asks us to really know ourselves.

    I don’t think that’s an out-of-place statement in a text book on communication for STEMians. Indeed, it’s perhaps the most important, and possibly difficult, statement that is oftern missing from texts of this sort that the reader needs to understand. We’ll explore how and when this is important throughout the book.