Why are people so Bad at communicating their ideas, these days?

Question

People speak in incoherent fragments without even introducing the topic... it just sounds like mumbling.

Doesn't it seem like more and more people are just rambling on and on about nothing these days?

Maybe I'm just imagining things but it seems like people are walking around with heads full of "junk info" from the TV and radio...

Perhaps too many medications and angry media are the cause?

I really can't decide between AuntB93, pitsargenof, and pie o my...

but I guess I'll have to pick...

Answer 1

I think the main reasons are lousy schools and even lousier mass media. If you study the popular shows on TV (if you have a strong stomach), they rely heavily on this sort of fragmented language. Much of it may be due to having nothing much to say, but having the idea that being quiet is somehow inappropriate. I always say better to keep silent and be thought ignorant than to speak up and prove yourself to be ignorant.

If you have something to say, you still may not be given an opportunity to say it, because people talk right over you. So don't discount bad manners as a reason for this deterioration of language.

Then too, many people who use fragmented language are imitating or even quoting what they saw on TV, either in shows or commercials. And they don't need to say the whole thing because the people to whom they are speaking have seen the same shows and know the same lines. In your Latin class, that was called "gapping," and considered an appropriate part of the language. That's why you can say half a line from a popular show theme or a popular song, and the people in your own age group will know what you mean. I say "Slow down, you're moving too fast," and my Baby Boomer friends all know the next line is "You got to make the morning last."

Answer 2

I'm sure it has something to do with the changing channels of communication. I.e. text messaging, email and even telephones interrupt or alter what would otherwise be face to face communication.

Face to face communication creates a pressure to perform on the spot (we would call this having a conversation!) and this can only be mastered with experience. Perhaps the use of technologies decrease the opportunity to relate in this way.

My teenage daughter has a boyfriend who I call the 'text boyfriend' because pretty much all communication is done over text. Talk about taking the easy way out. These kids even dump people via text messaging!

Another effect of this kind of technology might be that people are starting to think in fragments that fit into a dialogue box rather than seeing an idea through in the mind's eye from start to finish. Thereby becoming lazy thinkers.

Thinking takes discipline and there seems to be less of that these days. Here in New Zealand, Paliament is about to take away a parent's right to smack their child's hand when they reach for something hot. I know this is a whole topic of it's own, but your problem has many facets. And discipline I think is one.

How would these mumbling, bumbling people have coped in the old days when there were pressures to actually TALK to people, at church, in business, over the neighbour's fence??

Our society makes it too easy for people to develope lazy minds and I reckon the combination of 'easy' modes of communication and a lack of discipline are a big part of the answer to your question.

Answer 3

Are all problems in this World caused by something as simple as miscommunication? I believe so, and I also contest that others do not LISTEN even when the other party speaks with perfect diction. You will not find someone that believes moreso in the power of words than myself. I speak with eloquence, and feel so damn frustrated when people forget proper grammar. Even if they lack knowledge in such a department, they still never get their point across.

The media destroys any chance of creativity. No one allows their originality to flourish. Uniqueness gets crushed by conformity. People drug themselves with everything from prescriptions to heroin. I am sick of it too. ~N

Answer 4

Developing a cogent sentence is apparently a skill that is no longer considered important. To hear people talk, to read their e-mails, blogs, Yahoo answers, or text messages is an exercise in frustration. There is little doubt that a well-turned phrase does not excite the ear as it once did. Your observation shows prescience.

Answer 5

when were people other than writers ever good at communicating?
If anything we're evolving into better communicators overall.
Some people are highly verbal and can express themselves truthfully, from a heart felt perspective, and others dance around their true point because they can't really see it until they get past a bunch of mumbled garbage.

Answer 6

Partly it's intellectual laziness, partly fear, and a great deal of what's done to them. But you can't dodge your own personal responsibility to yourself.

Answer 7

I blame talk shows.