Okay, well this week, my brain wasn't functioning too well when I received the prompt of 'communication'. So I decided to clear it slightly by working through my thoughts on communication and turning it into a general musing on the world. So here it is; my thoughts of communication.
Communication
“If you speak to a man in a language he understands, it goes to his head. If you speak to a man in his own language, it goes to his heart.” Nelson Mandela.
I could give a hundred and one quotes on communication, and more specifically on language. Stop and think. What would your life be without communication? Imagine a world where there are no computers. That means no forums, no chat rooms and no emails. Imagine how silent the world would become. You wouldn’t be able to find like minded people who appreciate the same things as you from half way across the world. I wouldn’t be talking to you now. I wouldn’t know people from America, Canada, Israel, Germany, Australia… I would only know people from my local area; and that is a terrifying and dull prospect. Without computers so many methods of communication would be lost.
Then imagine if the telephone had never been invented: that you couldn’t pick up your mobile and text a friend. We’d lose a whole new language: text speak. Well it may b English but it aint nuffin like it reali. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a loss. Or maybe I am just a cynic, unable to see what the mobile has done for us: how easy it has made communication. Imagine life without it. We’d still be using carrier pigeons and messenger boys.
But imagine if we couldn’t write. There’d be no letters and no notes for pigeons to carry. But deeper than that, there would be no more stories written down for our enjoyment. There would be no great works of fiction: Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Tolkien… none of these would exist. On a smaller level I couldn’t leave a note tacked to the fridge telling my brother that he needed to buy some more milk. And if we can’t write, then we cannot read; and we lose one of life’s greatest pleasures. Writing and reading is to be treasured, and if there were no communicating, then we’d lose something of far more value than diamond and pearls.
Still, we would be able to talk, right? But what if we couldn’t? What if, millions of years ago, we’d neglected our vocal chords and remained silent? Then all oral tradition would be lost; all past, present and future. What if all the languages in the world no longer existed? What if over night everyone lost their voice and silence reigned? And what of body language: the most primitive form of communication. What if we were frozen? What if you couldn’t tell the difference between a smile and a frown?
Truly, if you imagine a world without communication, you imagine … nothing at all.
Humans need communication to survive. So what’s stopping us? Communicate; be it through speaking, writing, texting or touching. More than love, power and happiness, communication is important. For who can love without communicating? Who can be in power without communication? And who can be happy when they are nothing?
Communication. It’s more than just emails; it’s more than just talking; it’s more than just writing. Communication is everything.
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5 comments:
I think I could deal with a world without personal computers and mobile phones - after all that's the world I grew up in, until I was at least in my mid-teens. Humans will always find some way to communicate, even if we have to return to the basics - music, laughter, touch; signal fires, drumming, sign language. We live in a very communicative world; animals do it all the time, without the help of modern technology. Still... it is pretty darn cool to be able to talk to someone half-way around the world.
I love how you start with the tools that enhance communication and, if need be, we could get on without. (The thought of suddenly losing the internet, for instance, makes me cringe, but I know I'd survive--unhappily, but I'd survive. But once you get to prospect of losing the fundamental forms (rather than merely the tools) the thought becomes frightening. It's true, we would never survive without communication.
“If you speak to a man in a language he understands, it goes to his head. If you speak to a man in his own language, it goes to his heart.” Nelson Mandela.
I love this quote... it means so much on so many levels. Speak to teenagers - speak their language... speak to your husband, speak in grunts and groans! haha! Just kidding!
Loved your post!!
I sometimes feel the world would be a less stressfull place without all the high tech communications.
Then I go surfing the net until the feeling goes away . . .
Liked the piece.
I was considering leaving a snarky comment about how we could certainly do without a significant portion of the less-than-useful communication that occurs out here on the tubes. Then the irony of going to that trouble while leaving on comment on a blog post overwhelmed me.
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