Thursday, February 01, 2007

communication.

in my training it was instilled in me from the begining that the effectiveness of a message is measured by it`s responses.

in other words, if people misunderstand you, change the way you are communicating.

unless you don`t give shit.

many times i deconstruct confusing communication, especially in advertising, where it seems that one message is being transmitted when actually it`s another.

for example; "don`t drink and drive." this statement is made by law inforcement with the supposed intention of stopping drinking and driving.

a much more effective way to communicate that message would be to say that "if you drink then drive a car it`s likely that this will happen." then show a picture of a car crash.

the difference is in that the first statement is covert command to drink and drive, whereas the second statement is an overt indication of outcome.

why is the first statement a covert command to drink and drive?

well, it is the intention in some people`s minds to drink and drive already. the mind cannot process a negative statement. you cannot not think of an orange, for instance.

you firstly have to entertain the idea of that which is being presented in a negative way.

sooooooo, therefore, if you command someone to "don`t drink and drive.", you are asking them to entertain what they are already thinking about doing..............

and many choose to then go ahead and do it.

5 comments:

BBC said...

Playing with your brain some more today I see. :-)

Take it over to God 11.. I just posted more art there.

Dr.Alistair said...

brainplay........a passtime. hobby. dalliance......

profession.

there are days when i can`t believe i actually get paid for doing this stuff, but hey, i`m suprised that this stuff isn`t obvious to my clients, but here we are.

Dr.Alistair said...

and i`m moving toward believing that it benifited some to have people drink and drive also..............and i`m not the first to make these observations.

Steve said...

I feel you, my brother from another mother.

Dr.Alistair said...

hey ted, thanks for the comment and sorry about the wife thing........i thought i had it bad....jeez.