Re: Universal Translators
Michael Lorrey (retroman@tpk.net)
Sat, 09 Nov 1996 16:57:21 -0500
David Musick wrote:
>
> Michael Lorrey wrote to me, "You erroneously assume that every human has as
> much trouble
> communicating their thoughts as you do."
>
> All my life, I have seen people having a great deal of trouble communicating
> with each other. I saw it in school, when my fellow students would ask the
> teachers questions, and a great deal of the time, the teacher wouldn't
> understand what they were asking or else think they were asking something
> else, and so they would answer very inadequately, leaving the student baffled.
> I understood exactly what my fellow students were asking, and I understood
> how the teachers misinterpreted them. I have seen miscommunication like this
> all my life. I often act as a mediator between people who are talking to each
> other but can't understand each other, even though they are both fluent
> speakers of English. One person says something, and the other is baffled, and
> I restate it for them in better terms, and the person they are talking to
> understands. I'm often saying, "What he's trying to say is..."
I know exactly how you feel. But don't assume that teachers are
excellent communicators. I'll have you know that here in the US, the
average SAT score of teachers is the very lowest of ANY profession
requiring a bachelors degree. There are very few teachers I have known
that were in my mind capable communicators.
>
> I am actually a far better communicator than most humans. Most humans have
> much more trouble expressing things than I do. My assumption is not in error.
> Humans DO have a difficult time communicating with each other, except about
> certain, limited topics.
But you are still assuming that ALL humans are bad communicators. It is
more a matter of laziness and ignorance than lack of brain matter.
Mike