Recently at
church, I attended a class that studied translation and interpretation of the
ancient Hebrew text that became part of today’s Christian Bible, using as an
example Genesis 1:1-3. When looking at
four different translations, two of which were Jewish and two of which were
Christian, it struck me how different the translations were from one another. Especially in religious texts, the written
and spoken word wields considerable power in its ability to teach, motivate,
and influence human behavior. Changing
just one word in the act of translation and interpretation of a text may have a
profound impact on the message and the resulting teaching. As communications is such a major part of our
existence, I would like to examine how messages may be altered in the context
of everyday life.
On a daily
basis, we are flooded with information: news, reports, instructions, data,
feelings, and gossip. Thanks to modern
technology, an overwhelming amount of information is made instantly available
to us. When looking at this wealth of
information, most of the time I am too busy with the daily demands of life to
pay much attention to it, instead allowing my mind to filter out all but a
small percentage of the information. The
information that I retain then becomes my understanding. In the act of filtering, it becomes easy to
see how my understanding may be different from the actual picture. This difference may then be compounded when I
pass along the information to others. It
may be compared to the childhood game of “telephone,” where a child whispers a
message into another child’s ear. By the
time the message gets to the tenth child, it is completely and humorously
unrecognizable from the original message.
Even if I am
diligent in paying attention to the information I receive, it is subject to the
unconscious processing the mind employs in order to achieve understanding,
otherwise known as the concept of perception.
[1] According to Psychologist
David G. Meyers, perception is affected by our knowledge, experiences, and
beliefs. [2] One manifestation of perception is the
concept of “perceptual set,” or an innate bias to see things in one manner
rather than another. [3] There are also context effects, in which
interpretation of a stimulus is affected by the environment in which it was
experienced the first time. [4] These biases become incorporated into our
perceptual knowledge base and may result in the messages being altered from
their original intent and meaning.
Many messages
resonate with me either positively or negatively. The more passion a message sparks within me,
the more strongly I will react to it.
When I respond to or pass the message along, it will very likely
incorporate this passion. As a result, emotions
may distort messages, resulting in two possible outcomes. If the receiver of the message agrees, they
may accept it without question and, in transmitting the message to others, may
further distort it if they feel a strong emotional response. If they disagree with the message, they may
selectively filter it out or recast the message to support their
viewpoint. It is even possible that a
damaging exchange may occur as emotions overcome objective reason.
Closed-mindedness
is another factor in the transfer and processing of information. When I receive information with a closed
mind, I surrender myself to the intent of the message giver as well as their interpretation
of the message. This would cause little
harm if the message is accurate; however, it is more often the case that the
message has been altered by perception, interpretation and/or emotional
distortion. In not asking clarifying
questions or pondering the actual intent of the information conveyed, a
learning opportunity as well as an opportunity to improve the accuracy of the
message may be lost.
In looking
at messages and how they may be altered in the process of communication, assimilation,
and interpretation, it is important to understand how the mind processes, and
interprets information through our objective, unconscious, and emotional
filters. The human mind has remarkable
capabilities which are held back only by its own limitations as well as the artificial
limitations that we place upon ourselves, either knowingly or unknowingly. Every message provides a new learning
opportunity, an attempt to draw us closer to the truth, provided that we take
into account these limitations. The
consequences of misinterpretation of a message may be minor, as in the game of
“Telephone,” or catastrophic to the very existence of humanity.
To maximize
the value of a message, we need to keep an open mind and, more importantly, an
open heart. We need to attempt to keep our biases and our
emotions from influencing the information we receive. Additionally, given how easily a message may
be distorted, obtaining clarification either through obtaining information from
a different source or by asking clarifying questions will increase the quality
of the information received. In this
fashion, we maximize not only our own understanding but allow ourselves to
fashion a message in a way as to help others maximize their own
understanding. As the quality of the
information we share with each other improves, we all learn together at an
accelerated pace and humanity will exploit the enormous advances that have been
made in our ability to communicate with one another.
References:
[2] D. Myers, Exploring Psychology (New York 2005)
p. 176-184
[3] http://www.simplypsychology.org/perceptual-set.html
[4] See 2.
Photo credit brandeo.com
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