First I'd like to thank all my readers. Someone in the Ukraine has been reading avidly. They may be one of the people who is promoting this type of research. My deepest sympathy to you and your country people in this time of great stress. Hopefully we may be looking at the way out of these conflicts. {Having had my blog shut down in Russia has only reenforced my dread of censorship.}
Yesterday we looked at communication problems resulting from "Dense Code," and the overwhelming difficulties that come from learning any new language and culture. This problem becomes all the more great when we incorporate new technologies. (Open Source?)
By examining the "Confidence Levels," of my "Readings" I've come to recognize the difficulties we as people have with understanding each other. Multi lingual students (polyglots) in Europe were educated to speak and hear many languages. Although English is considered a universal language platform, it is also one of the most problematic languages to speak. (Blech!) In translation there has been a move away from just translating word for word. Idioms, figures of speech, analogies, technical and cultural specifics all lent their peculiar synthetic language contributions to our linguistic mush. The "Hermeneutic" tradition of translation translates for the meaning of what is being communicated. Even in families now days you are talking about different languages. Age, gender, educational differences, and even differences in politics and religion can reduce conversation across a breakfast table to babble. The antagonism of personal bias can often shut down lines of communication for good.
One of the biggest barriers to communication are the copying errors. Things mis quoted, poorly understood, taken out of context even completely mis apprehended. All of us at one time or another have politely tried to accept directions from someone who is giving us confusing pointers. It could be the language barrier, but just as often it is that persons style of perceptual orientation that renders the instructions useless.
I suggest that unlike computer code, that either "Runs" or doesn't "Run," for those of us that learn NEW languages "We Expect the Uncertainty," in what is communicated, sending and receiving. (Signal to Noise Ratio)
50% comprehension is actually pretty good when it comes to people being able to understand each other. We really are best advised to "Never Assume" that we are entirely understanding of what each other say. Most people get by with short attentions, hectic schedules, limited cultural exposure and extreme social boredom. This makes for considerable copying errors. People are lucky if they share even a small percent of each others languages. Contextually, we all live in little personalized linguistic bubbles. Hence the lust for a "Group Identity" and it's associated "Cultural Linguistic."
"The 85% rule" is mine. I refer to the rare circumstance where people really do "Read" each other comprehensively. This very low level of "Copying Error" is often marked by rapport, spontaneity and ease of expression. I've found that this is often one of the most difficult types of relationships. The level of freedom experienced between two people who share a uniquely personal understanding, puts an immense unintentional pressure on each person. Relationships that are bound by lesser familiarity run into these points of disagreement all the time. Imagine how horrible it can be for someone to discover they conflict with that person with whom they communicate so well.
Many nations are brought to the brink of war over nothing more than differences of opinion. Imagine how painful that can be between two very close dear friends.
