Understanding Goes Two Ways | The Probabilist . com

Understanding Goes Two Ways December 10, 2006

Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Calculus, Communication, Personal Growth, Relationships, Writing, Abilities, Blogging , trackback

Whenever there’s a flow of information going from one person to another we sometimes mistakenly assume that if our message doesn’t get through, the problem lies in the receiver’s intelligence or capacity of the mind. To tackle this scenario I’d like to formulate a more constructive way of solving the problem of an unrewarding teacher-student relationship. Even if you’re not a teacher per se, this insight is of use to you in any environment - while working with colleagues, raising your children or simply chatting with friends.

Let’s say for instance that I want to teach you how to use permutations in probability calculus. I might be so bold as to say that each and everyone has the capacity to learn and apply this knowledge. With this initial statement in place there’s only one ingredient left that decides if the attempt is a success. And it is me. If you fail to understand the concept of permutations, then the crucial reason behind this is simply my own inadequacy of teaching it.

Think about this perspective for a moment. Can I somehow change your preliminary thoughts about this subject? Of course not. Therefore it’s completely and utterly up to me how well I can prepare, motivate, reason, illustrate and test you in this particular subject. And this goes for every single transferable piece of knowledge and understanding that exists.

Take for instance a blog entry that I’m writing. If you don’t understand what I’m trying to say or what results I wish to achieve, then the error is unquestionably located in my inability to make myself understood. I’m not being harsh on this matter, but rather realistic and proactive. I’ve still got a long road ahead of me in this overall project of mine and plenty of time to make continuous improvements, but at the same time I truly enjoy walking along it.

This insight helps me put knowledge and understanding under a more accurate light. See, all of the things I write in this blog are to me, fairly obvious - most of them part of my reality since as far as I can remember. But that doesn’t make it any easier to deliver them to others in the same way I experience them. I’ve actually sometimes found it quite difficult to write a complex, non-linear concept of mine into mere words. But that’s why I keep doing it, to improve my ability to make myself understood and at the same time make some positive changes in the world - it’s part of my reality after all.

All in all, the more I think about the concepts of communication, relationships, understanding, consciousness and the nature of reality, I can’t help but distance myself from an objective reality standpoint and closer towards a subjective reality standpoint. I’ll be writing about this in greater detail in a future entry.

As a reminder, think about the topic. Understanding goes two ways. If the person you’re trying to reach doesn’t understand what you’re telling them, it simply means that you need to understand that your ability to make yourself understood is lacking in performance. You can’t change other people’s thinking and behaviour, but you can change your own. So you’re much better off first knowing what kind of a person this is and what (s)he wants. This will give you a far better idea of what kind of an approach you should choose or if you’ll decide to drop your intention all together. Selling your idea, product, system, knowledge or advice to your customer, colleague, friend or child all benefit from this insight.