Personally, I think it makes sense to think of communication as patterned interaction. For instance, at work yesterday I was supposed to call all my customers and remind them of this promotion we are having. Knowing that I usually get tongue tied when talking to people I don't really know I jotted down points for me to talk about however, although those notes came in handy when the person didn't pick up and I had to leave a message, when they did pick up those notes went out the window because what they said always through me off course.
Like a game of chess, I believe what "moves" a person makes in his or her communication with another person depends a lot on situation at hand and what the other person has just said or nonverbally expressed. For instance, you had a great day and can't wait to come home and tell your significant other all about it but when you walk in the door she is crying because her cat got hit by a car. Are you still going to walk in there and cheerfully tell her about your great day? Not unless you want to be acused of being terribly insensitive and get the silent treatment for the next two days. Instead you will drop what you wanted to say and (hopefully) comfort her.
The only way I think communication differs from a game is that there is usually no winner. There may be a winner if you are having an argument with another person, but on a day to day basis, the goal of communication, unlike the goal of a game, is not to win something.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment