Language is a funny thing. For at least the past 50 years, people have used language as a primary means of communication. Uses of language range from the simplicity of a common greeting to the intrinsically complicated process of blogging. What makes language work isn't so much the words that are being used, but the meaning that those words carry. Even now, as you read this blog post, you are decoding a message by means of the English language... If you do not speak English then you wouldn't have even gotten this far! You wouldn't know how to "decode" the language.
Now the problem we run into, is that even though two people may possess the ability to understand a certain language, no one I know has completely mastered every word. For example, until recently I thought the word "lethargic" could be used as a synonym to "wistful". When going back to the dictionary, I find that Lethargy has nothing to do with reminiscing and longing for past events, but instead characterizes someone who is too lazy to even care about the past.
To further clarify my point I will say the following sentence: "The crowd became incensed at the thought of their rights being taken from them." The word in question is "incensed", now I don't know about you but the first thing that comes to my mind is that the crowd began burning candles... But that doesn't make much sense in the context does it? I come to find out that "Incense" isn't just an aromatic device released upon being burnt, but it can also mean "to be greatly angered" this new definition fits the aforementioned sentence rather nicely... (almost as if the sentence were constructed for only the sake of this one word)
Words. Definitions. Context.
And I thought communication was supposed to be simple.
Why write about communication in a Mormon/Christian Web Blog? The answer is yes.
We want to have dialog, Mormons, Christians, Atheists, and purple dragons with chocolate toes. In order to make the dialog successful, we need to understand that our words are only as good as the meaning they convey. Where one person may read a headline in the newspaper telling about the number of high-school dropouts being significantly reduced, as much as 50% of previous years, another may be horrified that a school would resort to sawing kids in bloody pieces for simply not being able to tough it out in High School!
Mormons and Christians use a lot of the same words: Salvation, Grace, Faith, Know, Atonement, Authority, Eternity, etc... But I'd like to point out that most of these words carry different meanings for each person. A Mormon might be perfectly OK with saying they are "saved by grace" when I Christian understands this to mean something completely contrary to Mormon Doctrine. It's not that the Mormon is lying, but what we have there is a failure to communicate.
No matter what world-view you are, it is crucial that you have a mutual understanding of what "meanings" are being conveyed to have an effective dialog with someone of another faith. Between Bryan and I, it's take a couple years and even still we're realizing there are words we're still getting hung up one :P If there is ever a moments hesitation of what a phrase, word, letter may mean, I would strongly recommend that you get to the heart of the meaning. Ask the person who said it for further clarification. We all could use a little clarification ;)
A few more examples of under-clarification:
- Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
- Miner Refuses to Work after Death
- Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
- Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
- New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
- Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
