The Electronic Communication and Consciousness Conundrum

When an email is sent or a blog is created, it is the written word that is transmitted – nothing more, nothing less.  Many studies have shown that the written word – words – only transmit 10%, at most, of the intended meaning of the communication.   My fellow Australian Allan Pease – specifically “body language” – pioneered these studies in the 1970’s.  I am sure however that implicit and explicit knowledge has been around as long as we have been around.

So what happens to the rest of the communication?  How does the recipient get to 100% of the message, or at least the message they think they get?

We make it up.

Without the balance of the information (the 90%) the recipient will draw on their own database of information to complete the message – to get to 100%.

That means that what is in the recipients database – their mind, their memories, their experiences – will have far more impact on the final message than the original 10% of the orginal message.

Sound like a good chance for miscommunication?  Absolutely!

So, what are the chances that the 90% ADDED to the message by the recipient ALIGNS with the Sender?

That depends on one thing: the level of consciousness of the recipient.  The message will be lost if the receipt is unconscious.  Skewed by bias and innuendo, the recipient will create a message that fits only with their own world view, and will have very little relevance to the senders intended message.

With increasing levels of consciousness, the correctness of the message will approach 100%.

What does this mean – “increasing levels of consciousness”?

Well remember that each human on this planet – that means you and me – is a balance of two things: our conscious beliefs and our unconscious beliefs.  An unconscious person draws heavily from their beliefs, their superstitions, their history, their parents, their peers, and the community around them.  Are they an active participant in their lives?  Not really. Look at them as a leaf in a stream. They will go wherever the stream takes them.  Their Self determination is low.  Awareness of the world around them – and their involvement in it – is low.

Consider a conscious person, even one in the early stages of awakening.  They have assimilated their experiences and even developed their sub-conscious to be a reflection of their conscious self determination.  They are either awake, awakening or somewhere in between.  They understand their role in creation, their influence and their impact.

So what happens?

An “unconscious”, unaware person builds up the 90% missing information in an unconscious way.  So much so, they even believe they are getting 100% of the message from the sender just by reading their words.  This is how wars begin: email wars, and real wars…

The conscious person on the other hand, understands the limitations of the communication medium and will either, depending on their level of consciousness, ask questions until they are clear on the communication (an unconscious person will typically be fearful of asking questions for fear of “offending” the sender, or most commonly, being seen to be “ignorant” or a “lesser person”), or the conscious person will be in direct connection with the sender empathetically. But that my friends is another discussion.

Helping me to remember:  Become conscious.  Meditate.  Be with God.

Jeremiah Josey

When does life stop and living begin?

Friday, January 12, 2007, 7:51 am, a man stood at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.

During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that about one thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.

When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100. This is a real story.

The Washington Post Report

Follow up Report

Wikipedia on Joshua Bell

Youtube Video

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.

The outlines were:

In a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour -

Do we perceive beauty?

Do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Helping me to remember:  Become conscious.  Meditate.  Be with God.