Usually, I first think of a subject matter to write about, then I consider how much communication value it has. This futile method leads to frustration because I often want to write about stuff that has little to no relevance, such as CENSORED. I think I'll defeat my writer's block (is it still called that if you have too much to write about, instead of nothing? Comment! Haha.) this week by using a different strategy. I'll think of what aspect of communication I want to write about first, then choose what fits the bill. Genius! :D Let's try:
This week, we'll be looking at wonderful Perception.
How we communicate and how we behave- it's all really based on our individual perception. Think about it- your eyes and mine both have varying degrees of myopia, astigmatism, shape and size right? So, it makes perfect sense that we would see the world differently (literally and metaphorically) too. This is probably how the adages, "One man's meat is another man's poison" and "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" came about.
Perception, as defined by Seiler & Beall, is "the process of selecting, organising and interpreting information in order to give personal meaning to the communication we receive". Of course, we have the choice (or not) to omit or misinterpret certain stimuli, so this is where miscommunication occurs. We manage this by communicating to gain better (or worse) understanding, if given the opportunity.
Take yesterday's "clash of the cash" for instance. The two richest football clubs in the world went head to head in Manchester, and a highly controversial (as most things football go) incident occured:
This is a ESPNSoccernet picture of John Terry being given his marching orders for a professional foul on his opponent. The referee perceived Terry's action as a red-card offence (when it clearly was not according to the official FIFA rules), and hence sent him off the field.
You can tell, via their nonverbal cues, that the Chelsea trio of Carvalho, Anelka and Terry (L to R in black) perceives the referee's decision very differently. Are they communicating emotions of sadness, anger or disappointment?
Everything is subjective. So before you conclude or judge (or issue a red card wrongly), perceive differently first. Try putting yourself in someone else's shoes, no matter how smelly they may be. Cya next week!
You can tell, via their nonverbal cues, that the Chelsea trio of Carvalho, Anelka and Terry (L to R in black) perceives the referee's decision very differently. Are they communicating emotions of sadness, anger or disappointment?
Everything is subjective. So before you conclude or judge (or issue a red card wrongly), perceive differently first. Try putting yourself in someone else's shoes, no matter how smelly they may be. Cya next week!
10 comments:
It's a pity that perception is also at the heart of many huge conflicts that we have in the world today. Many a times, it's the lack of communication or rather just the refusal to communicate effectively that leads to much unhappiness.
haha. a true writer doesn't limit himself on subject. he writes for the pure joy of writing. So feel free to let ya thoughts run wild on screen as you type. It's only after you re-read what you've typed that censorship comes into play.
As for perception, it's easy to tell someone to put himself in another's shoes but it's a whole diff ballgame if you're the guy in question. Hard to practice what you preach.
See ya ard in sch.
anonymous- true. but in those circumstances, the nasty realm of politics also comes into play :(
johan- yep i agree. ended up censoring the whole damn thing. haha. i guess we all just have to do our best, no one'll blame the guy in qns for trying! cya!
Hey josh, interesting. And i guess your football instance fits the bill well in terms of the impact of perception on communication. Brings out how different perceptions can sometimes result in not-so- desirable outcomes. It's all about our individual experiences, knowledge and culture i guess? and which football club we are rooting for? haha.
Hey cousin! It's been a really long time since we actually talked! And then somehow out of boredom, I navigated to your blog!
Well, like you asked to perceive differently before judging or concluding, how easy would that be ? Either way, it will never be a fair decision. Because we have another thing called EMOTIONS playing a huge part of our decisions!
See you around soon! Maybe like CNY ?!
-Wyn
ying- there's only one united! there's only one united!
wyn- that's true. like when i ask you to gimme a 50$ angbao, although you have the $, you won't give me because my request brings out the emotions of surprise, shock and anger in you! :D
writing has never been my forte.
writing crap has never been my forte either.
but writing smoked crap is what i'm pretty good at. and of course, perception plays a part.
a wide, diversified view of things will probably back up one's writing.. till the point of making sense and that's what i'll call genius.
and i'll tell u what's on carvalho's, anelka's and terry's face: "kelong ref!"
and the ref goes: "great... jus great... i'm gonna be flamed by mr brown and xiaxue again...."
peace out. and we all know One.
imagine terry walking hunchback-ed and smiling. contradicting non-verbal cues. yea we should look at things a different angle sometimes, not letting our perception always cloud our judgement ;)
I see that this blog has been active in comments. And the dear ol' blogger here has made great pains to reply to every comment too!
Well, PERCEPTION to me is innate; it seems to be something that dwells undeniably in every individual. But yet, it is essential.
So much for it causing that dispute in the soccer match etc., but it very much allows people to "be humans". Meaning, at least it does allow us to feel, and try to make sense of what people say or express even non verbally.
And the best thing about perception is, it can't be judged. isn't it? we can't say that someone is perceiving it wrong, as it is a perception after all.
(if you get what i mean) haha.
About writer's block, maybe it all boils down to perception too. (HAHAHA) "too much or too little??"
just write everything which comes into your mind... there's what they all a balanced view...
but then i hope that you're not thinking too narrowly? :P
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