"Confusion is the greatest form of communication" What did Dali mean by this?

Question

I find this quote intriguing,
what do you suppose Salvador Dali meant when he said it?

Answer 1

If you think you have the answer, you do not ask questions

Answer 2

No one knows Dali's mind, so there is no answer.

Perhaps he was referrring to ambiguity that allows for individual interpretation. We all know song lyrics or poetry that we interpret differently than anyone one else. Perhaps when the lyrics are slurred or the painting is not objectiely interpretable we insert more of ourselves into the parts which were left ambiguous, thus the artist communicates by selecting the confusing features.

I similar thing happens in any flirtation where a wink, a nod, a smile or tossing the hair hopefully means one thing, but may well mean something else. We each interpret these with an eye toward common understanding (communication).

Of course Dali's statement is itself confusing and ambiguous and elicited all these interpretations and comments.

Answer 3

When one looks at the question such as this, one would be greatly puzzled, for confusion and communication are opposite features of each other. That is to say that if we communicate something very clearly, then there should be no confusion and vice versa. However the statement not only claim that confusion is a form of communication, but is the greatest form which is the source of the conundrum.

As far as I can see it, I think what he meant to say or rather to point out is the importance of feedback during communication. Communication is not a unidirectional event, but rather something that is continuously going back and forth, from communicator to communicatee. Feedback can be provided verbally as well as non-verbally. It is during feedback, that the communicator can judge the level of understanding of the communicatee by analysing the feedback that the communicatee is giving, mostly non-verbal. If the communicator detects negative feedback which we call it confusion, the communicator can then adjust to try to get the message across. This process repeats itself until the communicator is reasonably satisfied.

So, to sum it up, I guess what he meant was that to be really effective in communication, one have to take into account the feedback that other are throwing back at you and constantly adjust to that to achieve optimal results in communication.

Answer 4

asking what salvador dali meant about anything is like asking what gibberish means. try watching The Andalusian Dog and making a plot line. the point of a lot of dali stuff is the whole stream of consciousness - there is no sense.

Answer 5

Well, although I don't entirely agree with it, it does seem to have a point.

We each wish to be able to express ourselves clearly, including those parts of ourselves we don't know ourselves, so confusion communicates this.

Also, if just so much confusion is there to cause one to develop new discoveries by contemplation, and not so much as to make the recipients just blow it off as "nonsense", then it has engendered communication between a higher intellectual grasp and a lower one.

Personally I believe he wanted to intend the latter, but only comprehended the former...

Answer 6

I would imagine Dali was trying to say, profoundness always comes out of a fog which is at the base of our souls.

Answer 7

yeah that's a good question. and right now..i'm so confuse about life.
well i think it means that our curiosity leads to ask questions to others which is a form of communication. or it could also mean we let out how we feel..i know it seems like it doesn't make sense..it's kinda hard to explain

Answer 8

I think he means that communication gets lost in translation. We can never fully understand what the other person said but we get the general gist

Answer 9

Sounds obvious to me. My teacher said, Confusion is a higher state. Both are similar in the sense that both lead to inquiry which then leads to understanding which then leads to real love.

Answer 10

As long the one whom initiate a confusion knows what he does....Actually it is the way of leadership in existing social structures...Would be applied to medicine...not broadly in US unfortunately..that medical p ri cks knows exactly how to suck money where highly confused patient is last in a line of benefits....

Answer 11

A fish