Both Oars In Respecting authorship

Mar 25, 2011

“What we have here is failure to communicate,” drawls the prison warden played by Strother Martin in the film classic “Cool Hand Luke.” It is a great line that kicks off an important, but less memorable soliloquy by the warden. Cool hand Luke, played by Paul Newman, repeats a variation of the line near the end of the movie.

While the film has faded to cult status, the line seems to lead a charmed life of its own. In fact, I would bet if you have not quoted it yourself in the last twelve months, you have heard someone else blurt it out — most likely in a tortured Southern accent. I know I have used it several times in the past year. Then again, my work involves digging a lot of holes with bright young people with liberal arts educations.

With all due respect to Mr. Martin, who delivered the line in unforgettable manner, I believe this quote lives on more because of its constant relevance than its cinematic value or quirky delivery. Life is filled with communication failures. It is a persistent issue that impacts every aspect of life. The quote, unfortunately, lives on because it fits reality like a glove.

The failure to communicate is associated with a wide range of social problems. For instance, the failure of spouses to communicate satisfactorily is listed universally as one of the top five causes for divorce. Institutions that track divorce estimate that forty to fifty percent of first marriages end in divorce. With lessening emphasis on marriage being an all in proposition, being misunderstood has become an even more acceptable reason for folding and trying a new hand. Obviously, the inability to fulfill each other’s need for healthy communication packs quite a wallop for married couples and for society.

The inability to communicate also weakens the effectiveness of the government. The recent mid-term election sent a message that many voters do not understand Washington. To be fair, the disgruntled voters’ message is not so clear either. Now, Washington seems to be confused. I am certain that a fly on the wall of the Oval Office has already heard Mr. Obama ask in frustration, “What do the people want — less debt or less taxes? Clearly, they could not be suggesting both, right?”

Even computers are not immune to the communication pitfall. Peripherals often fail to sync. Paired devices flash confusing messages about being unable to read one another.  Smart phones regard other phones as dumb. Amazingly, even machines appear to suffer the frustrations of the failure to communicate.

While the negative fallout caused by poor communication is easily identified, why we continue to live under a perpetual curse of Babel is not. Maybe, as the Deconstructionist would have us believe, it is an inherent weakness of language. More likely, it is the residual effect of our fallen nature.

What is clear is that we do often misunderstand one another and pay a price for it when it happens. One would think that we could find sufficient motivation from the societal costs and personal pain exacted by the failure to communicate to seek a solution. However, at best, society generally seems willing to support the right to demand to be understood, but not the responsibility to understand others.

It may sound simplistic, but what I have learned from working in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual community with people of different ages, needs, resources, futures and concerns, is that I understand others a lot more when I keep in mind that I am not the author of what I am hearing. The person speaking to me is. Therefore, he or she is the only authority on what is being said. I have found my comprehension increases greatly when I discipline myself to accept that inference and interpretation are far less reliable than authorship.

But, how often do we catch ourselves, especially when angered, saying, “I know what you meant! I don’t care what you said.”