Complexity In Motion

Let's return to basics for a few moments. We are all creatures that communicate. We do it all the time in all ways at our disposal. In fact, at times we even communicate messages that we do not intend to disclose. Body language or facial expressions, for example, are big giveaways. On top of that, we are so sophisticated when it comes to communicating that we even have the ability to put forth false or misleading designed to mask how we might really feel about something. And then there is our unmatched ability to communicate exactly how we feel or believe about something. Given all that, there are simply no better communicators on the planet than human beings. High five to us!

Given this reality that we are so darn good at communicating, however, the question remains: how come there is so much conflict, misunderstanding, intolerance and ignorance in the world? Humans are indeed "masters of the university," to borrow Thomas Wolfe's great descriptive. Despite that, we sure could and should be better at it than we are. I confess that the cynical part of me believes that the many times we fall short from communicating effectively is often-times purposeful. We deliberately mislead. We deliberately sabotage interactions. We deliberately take steps to squash voices other than our own.

Do we do this all the time? No. Do all of us do it? Fortunately, no. Yet it cannot be denied that this sort of negativity occurs on a very regular basis. Let's face it: as adept as we are at communicating, we are also quite good at communicating poorly and ineffectively. So, what's the deal with our split personalities when it comes to communicating? How come one moment we can be spot-on when it comes to helping facilitate an effective and respectful communication exchange and then turn around the next and - on purpose - in a sense turn lemonade back into a lemon? Obviously, the answer revolves our own psychological profiles and circumstances in which we find ourselves each day. No wonder the act of communicating remains very complex.