Don't assume common knowledge

I just returned from a cross-country trip, and found this in my email, via Newswise:

Some people face their biggest problem with communication when sharing new information with people they know well, newly published research at the University of Chicago shows.

Because they already share quite a bit of common knowledge, people often use short, ambiguous messages in talking with co-workers and spouses, and accordingly unintentionally create misunderstandings, said Boaz Keysar, Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago.

“People are so used to talking with those with whom they already share a great deal of information, that when they have something really new to share, they often present it in away that assumes the person already knows it,” said Keysar, who with graduate student Shali Wu tested Keysar’s communication theories and presented the results in an article, “The Effect of Information Overlap on Communication Effectiveness,” published in the current issue of Cognitive Science.

“Sharing additional [new] information reduces communication effectiveness precisely when there is an opportunity to inform—when people communicate information only they themselves know,” the researchers said.

In real life situations, the assumptions people make about what another person knows have many consequences, Keysar said. Doctors, for instance, often communicate quickly with each other and miscommunicate because they don’t realize the other physician is getting new information when they are discussing a treatment program, he suggested.

Advice for students: Beware of the saurus

Michael Leddy teaches college English and blogs at Orange Crate Art but today he has a post at LifeHack.org; use the link in the title above.

This caught my attention since I had been thinking about the very issue.

From my perspective, the issue is: what use is a thesaurus when we are trying to simplify or clarify our writing?

I think it depends on your level of writing skill or perhaps your understanding of the topic you are writing about…

If you turn to the thesaurus just to spice it up, do not bother. Eschew elegant variation, as Fowler says.

If you use the thesaurus to find the word with just the right tone and subtlety of meaning, then go forth and search.

But if you are tying to simplify your language, just use the dictionary. One of the words used to define the word you started with will probably do the job. Or it will lead you to check its own definition…

Do read the LifeHack article today.