The Written Word

Apart from the words, I'm sure the tone of voice plays a big role in verbal communication. Yet given the extent to which we use e-mail, online messengers and text messages on our cell phones, we have now trained ourselves to read the "tone" from the written word. Or, have we?

Yesterday, I sent an SMS to a friend, who misunderstood the "tone" of the message. Of course after pointing out to him, what I thought as the obvious literal meaning of the message, he commented that the cellphone was a tool for miscommunication. Now I do find that very interesting, because I would beg to differ. I think in situations such as these, the actual tool for miscommunication is our mind. Its not really the fault of the message - its the way we want to interpret and read the message. I am not suggesting that we deliberately like to misinterpret what we see or read, but yes, sometimes our mind does think of the worst case scenario immediately. Heck, its not just some times, its MOST of the times. And isnt that the same as pessimism? Or is that just being prepared for the worst? That brings to mind the age-old wisdom of "Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst". So.... lets start hoping for the better.. better people, better life and a better, more positive, mindset.