Misunderstood: Communication has occured
The concept that I believe is most misunderstood in my discipline is ‘understanding.’ Most people believe that simply communicating your message is sufficient for understanding. George Bernard Shaw once said that “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” Just because something is communicated well doesn’t mean that it is understood, or even listened to. Unfortunately, this often means that a message is communicated and then either misunderstood or ignored. The impact is a misunderstanding, possibly anger and a feeling on the part of the communicator that communication has occurred when it hasn’t. The misconception stems from not applying a system where understanding is tested. Without that, you can never be sure if what you have tried to communicate is actually communicated. A good analogy, I believe, is language choice. Someone says, “That’s sweet!” to communicate something that they like. To an international student, this colloquialism could easily be misunderstood. The communicator’s assumption is that communication has occurred and meaning has been transferred. It has not.
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