Q: Is writing the most difficult method of communication? (via Quora)
A: No, because communication is more than the transmission of information: True communication is when your message is not merely transmitted, but also received and understood — and ideally, remembered.
If you only look at the first part of communication — the transmission of a thought — then ok, maybe talking is easier than writing. Speech is instinctual, after all, and the effort that goes into speaking is mostly invisible and unnoticed.
It’s a little like your heartbeat. Your heart is constantly working your entire life, but most times, we don’t even notice it. The effort is there, but it’s just part of the background of life.
So it is with speech in humans: We are hardwired for it. There’s real effort involved, but it’s as unnoticed as our heartbeats.
Elevating language beyond casual speech does require additional conscious effort. But clear, organized, polished writing reduces the processing time on the receiving end, and helps ensure that you’re actually communicating, and not just making mouth noises.
Getting your message not only transmitted, but received and understood is what real communication is about.
Also, significantly: A written thought can reach far more people, across space and time, than any oral utterance. For example, the number of people who have read, say, Shakespeare far exceeds the number of people he spoke to during his life.
Maybe that will change in some coming day when our lives are digitally recorded from birth onto some indelible non-paper medium; and all speech — or at least the most well-researched, well rehearsed, and well-delivered speech — can be made easily and permanently available to all.
But for now, looking at the totality of the communication process, nothing beats good, clear writing.
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