7. Effective Communication

Language and logic are inextricably bound up with each other. How that is so becomes clear when we recall the relationship between the idea and the word. Although it is a disputed point among the experts, it seems possible that we can hold an idea in our mind without having a precise word for it. In any event, if we are going to attempt to communicate an idea to others, it is imperative that we express it by a word. And, as we have seen, the better the fit between word and idea, the clearer and more effective the communication of the idea.

Matching words to ideas is the first and most basic step in communication. The next step is putting ideas together to form coherent statements. If I said to you “dog” or “cat,” your response would be expectant, waiting to hear more. You would wonder, What about dogs or cats? Through the words I’m speaking, you know the ideas I’m dealing with, but you don’t know what I intend to do with those ideas. I’m simply “saying” the ideas; I’m not saying anything about them. We say something about ideas when we put them together to form statements that can be responded to affirmatively or negatively. Notice that if someone simply says “dog,” there would not be much sense in responding with “That’s true” or “That’s false.” But if someone says something about a dog—“The dog is in the garage”—then such a response would be appropriate. “Statement” has a special meaning in logic. It is a linguistic expression to which the response of either “true” or “false” is appropriate.

Words have been called the building blocks of language, but it is the statement that logic starts with, for it is only at the level of the statement that the question of truth or falsity is introduced, and logic is all about establishing what is true and distinguishing it from what is false. It can sometimes be tough enough determining whether a statement is true or false when that statement is clearly understood. But if we have difficulty understanding what a statement is attempting to say, then our difficulties are compounded, because we have to figure out the meaning of the statement before we can get on to the main business of determining whether it is true or false. Thus the importance of clear, effective communication.

It is impossible to have clear communication without clear thinking. How can I give you a clear idea of something if it is not first clear in my own mind? However, clear ideas do not guarantee clear communication. I may have a perfectly good idea of what I’m trying to say, but can’t succeed in getting my ideas across clearly and effectively.

Here are some basic guidelines for effective communication:

Don’t assume your audience understands your meaning if you don’t make it explicit.

The more complicated the subject matter dealt with, the more important this point is. We sometimes take it for granted that an audience is aware of background information that is necessary for a correct understanding of the subject we’re speaking on, but in fact the audience may be quite innocent of this information. When in doubt, spell out the background information. It is always better to err on the side of saying too much than on the side of saying too little.

Speak in complete sentences.

The sentence with which logic is most concerned is the declarative sentence. A declarative sentence is the same thing as a statement (also called a “proposition” in logic). If I say “Dog turtle,” “Falling stock prices in July,” “The building’s Indiana limestone facade,” you could presume I am intending in each case to link certain ideas together, but you do not know how. That is because I am not forming genuine statements. I need to speak in complete sentences: “The dog bit the turtle,” “Falling stock prices in July depressed Julian,” “The building’s Indiana limestone facade was severely defaced by the vandals.”

Don’t treat evaluative statements as if they were statements of objective fact.

“The Pearce Building is on the corner of Main and Adams” is a statement of objective fact, and as such it is either true or false. “The Pearce Building is ugly” is an evaluative statement, and as such it combines both subjective and objective elements. Evaluative statements do not lend themselves to a simple true-or-false response. We must not invite unwarranted responses to statements, which is just what we do when we attempt to pass off an evaluative statement as if it were a statement of objective fact. True statements of objective fact are not open to argument; evaluative statements are. If I want an evaluative statement to be accepted, I must argue for it.

Avoid double negatives.

In Spanish, double negatives have the effect of intensifying the negative import of a sentence. In English, double negatives cancel each other out, making the sentence affirmative. This can sometimes cause confusion, since the sentence sounds negative but is in fact affirmative. To avoid that confusion, and for greater clarity of expression, avoid double negatives. Instead of saying, “It is not unlikely that she would be welcome,” say “She would be welcome.”

Gear your language to your audience.

If you are a physicist discussing the principle of indeterminacy with other physicists at a professional conference, you can freely use the technical jargon of your profession. But if you are asked to explain that principle to a group of nonphysicists, you should adjust your vocabulary and present your material in ordinary language. Don’t use technical or “insider” language merely to impress people. The point is to communicate. The two extremes to be avoided are talking down to people and talking over their heads.

An important point to note here is that we obviously cannot attune our language to our audience if we do not know our audience. The first order of business, then, is to have a reasonably good sense of the composition and background of the group you will be addressing.