A message can be divided in three parts:

• what we want truly transmit.
• what we have transmitted that is the meaning or interpretation of the message.
• the words and phrases used to transmit the message.

It is necessary to be aware that the message understood is not typically exactly the same of the one we truly wanted to transmit.

Some causes may be:

• We choose words and phrases that have different meaning of what we wanted to transmit.
• We choose words and phrases that have a meaning coherent to what we want to transmit, but the other person assign a different meaning to the words and phrases we used.
• The other person interprets the message basing on one’s beliefs. Therefore if the two people have different beliefs, they may interpret the message in different ways.

It is therefore important to:

• be sure that the words and phrases we choose have the meaning we want to transmit for us and for the other person.
• understand what are the different beliefs and what assumptions or premises the other person is doing.

Related Questions:

Related Topics:

• Communication
• Critical thinking

References