Paint More Pictures

There is a need to dispel the notion that communication involves the transfer of knowledge or information. As no two brains are connected, the best that communication can be is merely influencing someone else’s thought. Each person can only arrive to their own conclusions, which is why you cannot get a point across to someone when in conflict but can when there is mutual respect and cooperation.

Herbert Paul Grice gave a lecture at Stanford in which he introduced the Cooperative Principle. He theorized that because human beings are rational, there must also be a rational explanation for how we converse with each other. The Cooperative Principle says that every conversation is a cooperative effort by two or more people, and consists of 4 basic maxims:

1. The Maxim of Quantity – Where one tries to be as informative as possible, and gives as much information that is needed and no more.
2. The Maxim of Quality – Where one tries to be truthful, and does not give information that is false or that is not supported by evidence.
3. The Maxim of Relation – Where one tries to be relevant, and says things that are pertinent to the discussion.
4. The Maxim of Manner – When one tries to be as clear, brief and as orderly as one can, and avoids obscurity and ambiguity.

Reading these probably does not induce any light bulb moments, but it is interesting to see how communicating can universally be broken down into 4 simple principles. In conversation, deviations from these maxims are sometimes just as prominent as following them. This is called Flouting the Maxims. In such cases the speaker is still communicating but is either violating the Quality Maxim, Manner Maxim or indicating a conventionally accepted meaning. Grice published a paper in 1957 differentiating between literal meaning and speaker meaning, calling it Conversational Implicature. For example “Do you know the time?”, from the literal meaning of the phrase, you could answer “yes or “no” but by convention we know that the speaker is really asking for the time. This shows that when conversing there are two elements a speaker must be sure to align, the speaker meaning and audience interpretation. A fun way to really see the applicability of Grices Maxims and Conversational Implicature is to watch the following Big Bang Theory Youtube video (Link), which highlights scenes that flout the maxims or don’t follow Conversational Implicature. 

Observing the 4 maxims in conversational practice establishes that there are basic rational rules for cooperative communication, but the literal meaning of our words is only the surface. The greatest speeches in history are remembered not just because of what was said, but how effectively the audience could relate to the speaker, the context of their message and the emotion it evoked within the listeners. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech “I Have A Dream…” (Link), is ranked as one of the greatest speeches in history. But what is it that made this speech so great? Relevance and its ability to connect with the individual. This speech did not promote its idea but exemplified it, and at the time all of America was embroiled in the issue of race and segregation. If you open the link and follow through the speech, you will notice that MLK Jr. breaks the Maxim of Manner and uses conversational implicature quite a bit, “we’ve come to our nations capital to cash a check”, this is not meant literally but through convention we relate to this action and associated meaning. MKL Jr. used figures of speech very effectively, by doing so he increased his ability to connect with the audience through individual interpretation. By allowing his audience the flexibility to interpret some elements of his speech, Doctor King created an intimacy that could be felt by each person listening. But imagine how someone would have received the speech if they were pro segregation, they would not have been inspired or thought anything of it. However, to the people at the rally and for us today, we act in cooperation and see the truth of what he was saying, we feel the relevance of the idea and can still be inspired by it today.

Martin Luther King Jr. painted a picture with his words, where the speech itself never strays from its intent and looks to influence those present. Art is an aspect that exemplifies this practice, where each piece carries a message or meaning that looks to resonate with the individual.

Just as conversation requires basic rules, artists have basic skills required to do their work, each stroke needs precision, an understanding of color dynamics, knowledge of different types of paint, blending etc. What differentiates a master from an amateur however, is their Concept Development. This is the artists ability to convey an idea or emotion that resonates and connects with the audience. Jackson Pollock’s painting Convergence (Link) has an estimated value of $300 million, and is acclaimed as one of the greatest abstract works because of its message, context and divergence from traditional rules.

It was painted at the height of the Cold War in 1952 and looks to represent the chaos of the time. Pollock was credited for exemplifying the new perspective in the U.S., where America had finally outgrown European influence. Critiques claimed his work was the culmination of what could be accomplished through the new democracy, and saw it as the next evolution of art due to its structure, size and use of new materials. With an understanding of the painting’s context, look for yourself. Think of the current political climate we are in, our society. How does this painting make you feel? What can you interpret from it? How you connect to it defines its value, do you agree with its price tag? Id encourage you to take the time and open an HD image on google, take it in for a little while as it might surprise you.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that communicating should be and is a very subtle practice. Similar to art, it is composed of fundamental rules, but its value and impact can be measured through relevance and connection. Pollock broke the rules in a remarkably effective way, with his work resonating with people and stands as a representation of the issues and perspective of his time. Likewise, Martin Luther King Jr. composed a powerful speech by developing his concept and strategically breaking the maxims. In both cases the impact of their work lies in the acceptance of their audience. A speech or work of art cannot be great without excellent delivery, but neither can be powerful without the cooperation of the audience. Next time you look to have a vivid discussion or debate some of the big issues going on, keep in mind that as much as you have to give, you need the other person to accept just as much.