cbroberts

I’ve been doing some thinking about human communication. It did not dawn on me until this past holiday weekend (Thanksgiving) that human communication permeates all aspects of our lives. I mentioned in a paper I wrote a while back that the key to communication is listening. I believe this to be true; however listening goes beyond hearing spoken words. Earlier this week when I was with family I noticed one other thing about human communication that I previously did not think about, and that is that it changes as we grow, but begins at birth, and can take very simple forms.

I was watching two of my one year old cousins play on the floor during the thanksgiving break and watched as one picked up a toy of another. All the baby did whose toy was taken was give a look to the other baby. There was no noise, there was no crying, or attempt to take the toy back, yet the baby who took the toy turned and started to crawl away (with the toy in hand) as fast as she could. The look that was given communicated that she was mad and she wanted the toy back. It was an example of human communication at a very basic and most primitive level.

This may seem simple to most, but it showed me something very important in human communication and that is even babies communicate effectively, so we as adults should be able to as well, yet many times we don’t. Could it be that at times we make the communication process more difficult then it has to be? Nothing more than a look in a baby’s eye was enough to strike fear in the other baby that she may lose the toy and she tried her best to take off so she could keep it in her possession.

My point in this simple story is just to say that communication begins when we are young, as we grow we refine it and change how we do it. So even when you think that you or another individual cannot communicate effectively; when you think there has been a communication breakdown, remember that sometimes a simple look is enough to convey a very clear message. I think many times we over complicate the process. I think that many times simple direct communication is the most effective form. I think we can learn a lot about communication when we sit and just observe the world around us and watch how people (of all ages) communicate.