W. Barnett Pearce

The primary goal of any act of communication is to generate an understanding among those one is trying to reach that they know what it is you are trying to say. If people do not "get" what it is you are saying, then your attempt to communicate has failed. It does not matter how articulate, polished, smooth, slick or well-planned it might have been, the bottom line is it has fallen short. You, the communicator, must regroup and figure out a different way to reach your audience. That, of course, can be frustrating, time-consuming and sometimes even costly. But such is life in the world of communication, It is a path we all travel each day.


One of the best travelers in that regard was the late W. Barnett Pearce, a communication scholar who passed away a little over two years ago. The author or co-author of 12 books and over 100 essays in an array of scholarly journals, Pearce distinguished himself  by using philosophical ideas to provide a greater understanding of how people communicate. To cite one example, Pearce called for people to let go of the assumption their views are universal, particularly when engaged in a moral conflict with another. People, he wrote, must recognize that other moral positions exist and, therefore, should focus on ways to work through those differences.


These differences are a reality that should not be ignored, he said, because single-minded moral pursuits get in the way of mutual understanding. Sadly, we see far too many examples of this in the political climate of today's world. Men and women of various political persuasion are far more focused on what they view as their universal truth instead of on establishing a greater understanding with those who have a different perspective. The result, as we see, is gridlock and animosity, neither of which does any one any good. My thanks for highlighting the wisdom of Pearce goes out to another scholar, Ronald Arnett, for his assessment of Pearce in the 2013 edition of Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, volume 14.