When I was a child, a game was popular which was played in the following manner. There was a row of children sitting side by side. The first person would make up a sentence or phrase and whisper it into the next child's ear. This child would in turn whisper it into the third child's ear. The action would be repeated until the last child would hear it. Then he or she would say to everyone what he or she had heard. Most of the time, what was said bore little relation to the original words.
This always fascinated me because much of what we hear and read today bears a resemblance to that children's game. For instance, the original information often goes from the person who experienced the news story to a witness, to a reporter, to an editor, then to a newspaper or magazine printer or a TV anchor person. Each link carries the risk of error through misunderstanding, exaggeration, fitting the story to a particular time or space, and the desire to make it more succinct or newsworthy.
At least the printed word has a reference that one can look to for checking of accuracy. However the spoken word is fleeting and gone the instant that the words are heard. All that is left is the memory of the person who spoke and the memory of the one who heard. Worse, each memory may be different.
When one speaks, he really says four messages; the one that he says, the one that he means to say, the one that is heard and the one that the listener wants to hear. All of them may be the same, some may be the same, and all may actually be different.
That is why it is very important that we watch our words carefully when we speak for not only can we do great good but we can also do great harm and not even know it.
What We Say and Hear - Mike's Photo and Thoughts Website
