Joe Katzman writes:
Before feelings are permanently hurt all around, allow me to point out
that communications on the net are restricted in bandwidth. Expression,
tone, gestures, attetion levels - all missing. Ben, you may tell me that
typing feels just like other forms of communications - and that's an
important point in some ways - but the reality is, we're missing a lot
this way.
So, any comments, reactions, etc. that come through the net should be
taken with a thick skin and a large helping of salt. Often, what you think
was said isn't exactly what was meant.
My approach is to save myself the aggro up front and not take e-mail at
face value. If it is one of the rare occasions when someone really is out
to get me, they'll let me know through their persistence. If not, I
haven't gotten upset or wasted energy worrying over nothing. Looking at
this exchange, I'd say it falls closer to the "nothing" category.
Then follows with:
My take: Discussing this issue can be a good thing, and the urge to offer
support to others is not wrong. But Rob's "double-loop" question regarding
the potential pitfalls is equally valid. Most of us are NOT professionals
in this field. We should keep his cautions in mind and attempt to
incorprate them into our thinking and actions when discussing this
subject.
== End of Quotes==
It strikes me that communication via email as a special case of writing
has many of the same pitfalls as comunicating about things that are
difficult to communicate about i.e. depression, feelings, the heart, etc.
There have been several comments related to this topic as related to
email.
There is a lack of richness to the communication that I can explain as a
"bandwidth problem"? There a parts of the communication that are lost.
This is a different way of talking about what Argyris describes though it
is attributed to defensive routines - and I agree with Chris. My comment
comes from a different listening perspective.
The connection here is that sometimes when we are depressed (state or
trait) we lose information transmitted via filters/coloring of our
perception. In some ways I am blurring the boundaries between depression
as a cognitive state and "mental models" as the term is typically used.
This is not that different from email communication.
I think I will quit here. I attempt to mimic some aspects of verbal
communication in not reflecting too much on what is written. I will send
and wait on responses.
David C. Rupley, Jr.
dcrupley@coredcs.com
"Man's inner nature is identical with the nature of the universe, and thus
man learns about his own nature from nature herself." - Rolling Thunder
--"David C. Rupley, Jr." <dcrupley@coredcs.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>