MEMORANDUM FOR DD/S FROM ACQUISITIONS BRANCH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00780R001500050047-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 43
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 20, 2003
• Sequence Number: 47
• Publication Date: June 3, 1966
• Content Type: MF

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I AUG 54 'Ul WHICH MAY BE USED.
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 CENTRAL INTELLIGERtCE AGENCY
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20505
This brochure is being distributed at
the request of the Director, who feels that
it has important and useful things to say
about problems in communication. I can add
to this my own view that this is the best
"short course" on semantics I have seen.
STATINTL
R. J. SMITH
Deputy Director for Intelligence
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k'A IHER
aLuMiivuna
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WA.(4 THE WOItI) "AND"
Perhaps all stories should
begin with the word
"and." Perhaps they
should end with the word
"and" too. It would
remind us that no
experience ever begins;
there was always
something that preceded
it. What really began,
for us, was our awareness
of something going on.
At the end, the word
"and..." would remind
us that no story ever
really ends - something
more will happen
after. eve, Thus, it may
be said that we live in
the world of "etc." There
is always more to start
with than we can take,
into account. There is
always more to say than
we can possibly say.
There is' always more
to end with than we can
imagine. ev, You are
.now invited to enter
the world of etc.
COPYRIGHT C 1965 BY
THE KAISER ALUMINUM
8 CHEMICAL CORPORATION
"Man," it has been said, "is the
only creature on earth who can talk
himself into trouble."
After a couple of million years of
practice, we've become pretty good
at it.
Think back over the last few days
-if you can bear to do so-and
chances are that you will find that at
least some of your tensions, anx-
ieties and frustrations arose from
situations in which you did not
really understand what someone
said-or they did not seem to under-
stand what you really meant.
Perhaps:
F a customer's order was improp-
erly filled.
E a letter or memo was addressed
to the' wrong, place or person. .
a lot of time was wasted on the
wrong assignment.
RI you never did get anything out
of the conference you spent two
hours in this morning.
And at home? Well, you're in-
clined to agree with the man
who said, "There are only three
races-men, women and chil-
dren. And none of them speak
the same language."
What is upsetting about all this is
that you may feel that you are a
pretty good communicator-it's just
that everyone else seems to do such
a lousy job of it. After all, it should
be perfectly.. easy, for us to under-
stand. each other in our every day
home and .business life.
What .can the matter be
Is it not at least possible that:;we:
have taken our ability to communi*
Cate.with each ;other for granted,
Perhaps we have felt that it is a
rather simple, natural process, and
"once we learn the language, we
should be able to understand each
other pretty well.
comnn,nicate and (?c if there ti-,
any cl;ies that wilt ir'lp us us r
stand each other a ittle better-'.'
For the most par , the work of l a
world gets done bi,-ause people it)
cooperate with one another. I1'acn o
us is almost whol v dependent u
what other people (to for us. 'l'iar
modern world is r of, a "j urn g.i rY
competition" as sor e have de,criI
it; it is more like a. rr ocean ot. co' p
eration.
The cooperation that mares I,u-
man ;society pos ible is arlrnost
wholly dependent -n the skill with
which we commui icate. If we 1o
not understand eal h other's nee+ls.
we cannot fill them very well.
So, it seems emin=ntly worthwh le
to.examine the pro. ess by which we
communicate. Perl aps we will fiid
that when commun cation fails. it is
not we who are al fault, but t}, at
some part of the pr icess has broken
down.
And that is what we want to U-11k
about on the foliom ing pages,
Now the questio i rather reasrn-
ably arises: Why rould a bus au s-
r, firm like ours-exf ractors of oru~s,
?makers of metals and chemical::-
discuss this at all?
"And the best answer ve can thi.rk
of is that we feel` ? hat all business
ultimately comes clown to a trans-
action between individual human
beings. The success of that transac-
tion depends almos entirely on how
well they. understand each other
The material c=n the following
."pages is intended -trot to answ er
questions-but to stimulate thirrki ng
.;,,about how we comr:runicate and how
we might try to im prove the way we
do it. If this, in t . irn, helps, a to
understand your n -eds better-, t}; e
we can hope to fill hem bett4_ r..'" itk
our business will r"mnrove -.c ., at,
Would it perhaps be useful to extent.
examine the process by which we Per naps yours ti
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HOW IS IT WE KNOW SOMETHING TO COMMUNICATE?
Here's looking at you-one way, at
least. Instead of thinking of yourself as a "thing" in a world of "things" you might try to
think of yourself as a whole lot of activities going on near some point in space and at
this moment in time. At this "somewhere/somewhen" you are immersed in a
great ocean of other happenings. The interactions between the "happening" that is you and
the "happenings" that are NOT you, are the raw, basic stuff we try to
communicate about. When you talk or write about something, what you are describing
is those interactions that happened inside of you-not just what happened outside of you.
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The world outside us is believed
to be made up of at least three levels of
"happenings." Of these, we are able to
experience only one level with our unaided
senses. Visually, the level we do see
appears to be made up of radiant light,
such as is emitted from the stars and our
sun, and the reflection of this light from
the edges and surfaces of "things," which
usually appear to us as patches and
patterns of colors. What we "see" is not
the "thing" itself, but a happening-
the emission of light or the reflection of it.
Beneath the edges and surfaces of "things,"
there is another layer of events that
can be seen with special instruments, like
microscopes and x-rays. What these
instruments do is to bring this otherwise
"invisible" world up to the visible
world of colors, edges and patterns that
we can experience. This microscopic
layer appears to be a world of structures-
which we might consider to be
forces in equilibrium-and of motion-
which we might describe as forces
seeking equilibrium.
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Beyond the microscopic layer is still
another, which we believe to be made up
of the interaction of electrical and
magnetic forces in constant motion.
We "see" this world, too, by bringing some
of its effects up to the level of patterns
of color and the edges of things-
such as streaks on a photographic film,
or a pointer on a dial. Thus, the world
that we can experience directly is made
up of patterns of color and edges of things,
and it is the effect these have on us
that we talk and write about.
We react to only a few of all the waves
of energy that ceaselessly pour in upon us
from all directions. The spectrum of visible
light-our "window on the world"-
is only a tiny band out of all the waves
of energy our instruments tell us are out
there. And out of all the sound waves-
the "music of the spheres"-that beat in
upon us, our ears can pick up and
process only a very little bit.
What we can talk or write about
is only a very small part of all that is
going on "out there" .. .
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In a way, we "select" that part of the world
that we want to experience at any one
time. If we choose to stay indoors instead
of going out, we have already selected
one field to experience-and cut ourselves
off from all the rest. And if we are in a
room with four windows, we further
narrow the field of our experience when we
choose which window we want to look
through. The particular place you are in,
and the direction you choose to look, decide
what experiences you are going to have.
Since no two people can be in exactly
the same spot at exactly the same time, all
of our experiences are, to that extent,
different. ev, Many of our problems in
communication arise because we forget to
remember that individual experiences
are never identical.
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Another way we select the experience we
are to have is by picking out some of
the things that are in our field of vision and
rejecting the others. These three
photographs are all reproduced from the
same negative-we show them as they
might appear to:
So, even when we are looking at "the same
thing"-that is, in the same direction
and from almost exactly the same spot-
we still do not necessarily experience
it the same way. (A good example is the
quite different reactions people get from
watching the same motion picture).
A person needing to cash a check Someone who is late for an appointment
What happens inside us when we see
something? Two things, apparently. In the
first place the light rays emitted or
reflected from the outside events you have
chosen to look at are focused on a tiny
%-inch spot on the back wall of the
eye. Here, they are changed into electrical
impulses which then trigger a chain
of electrical and chemical events in your
nervous system. When you talk about
what you have seen, what you talk about is
that chain of events in your nervous
system, its interaction with the object
outside you. This experience-because of
what you chose to look at, the time
you chose to look at it, and the fact that the
light rays that entered your eye never
entered anyone else's, make this experience
individual and unique. It is not exactly
like that of anyone else.
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How then, can we ever discover what is
similar in our individual experiences of the
same outside event? Well, one theory
is that, while any one experience is uniquely
individual-the series of individual
experiences is (or can be) nearly identical.
If we walk around a chair, its shape will
constantly change as we change the angles
at which we look at it. If someone else
then walks around the chair and looks at
it in the same angles, he will have
different individual experiences, but the
series will be much the same for him as
it was for us. Thus the succession of
individual experiences enables us to agree
upon what we have experienced, even
though the individual experiences
To a certain extent, we are "taught" what
to see. The event which has not been
experienced before does not "make sense."
Successive experiences enable us finally
to recognize the sameness of the sequence
of experiences, even though individually
they are different. For instance, take
these pictures:
This appears
to be a cup and saucer
4.
So does this ...
And this ...
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are somewhat different. If this were not
true, effective communication would
be almost impossible. When we talk
to someone, we establish communication
best by discovering what is common in
the succession of our experiences, while
keeping in mind that we may differ in
our interpretation of any individual
experience. Although we experience
the world in bits and pieces, the sequence
in which we experience them flows
together and we feel the world around us
as a continuous panorama. When we
try to communicate about it,
we have to break it down into bits and
pieces. Perhaps a large part of our
trouble starts there.
Yet, considered as separate experiences,
each image we form of the cup and saucer is
entirely different.
Somewhat the same thing applies to sounds.
The interpretation of sounds as intelligible
experience depends on our ability to
recognize a sequence of patterned sound
waves moving through time. Thus, we have
to be taught to "see" what we see and
to "hear" what we hear. Since we are each
taught differently, the very basis
of our understanding of what we see
and hear differs to some extent from what
others see and hear. This is one reason
why verbal communications often are less
satisfactory than written ones, because
the spoken language allows of so many
different intonations, pitches and variations.
Two or more people, hearing the same
sounds, do not experience nor interpret
them the same way. When we assume that
everyone sees or hears "the same thing,"
then we base our personal communication
on a false and misleading premise.
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A good way to show that we have to learn
to see is the ink blot. Looking at the
one here, different people will "see" different
things in it; their internal experience
of this event will tend to be different than
that of other people looking at it. You will
find, also, that if you look away from it, and
then look back again, you may discover
new shapes that give you new experiences
that you had not seen before. When you
are talking to other people, it is sometimes
useful to keep in mind that if the
experience you are talking about is new
to them, they will have trouble "making
sense" out of it, just as you perhaps
had trouble "making sense" out of this ink
blot when you first saw it. Much of our
difficulty in introducing new ideas-
and much of the very human resistance to
change-arises from the fact that we
have to learn what to experience in the
events we experience.
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people have reported seeing in the ink Not
on the preceding page. Did you see
them? Looking back at the original ink
blot, do you see them now? Have you
perhaps been taught by other people what
to see? When you are talking to someone, it
is well to keep in mind that they may
have been "taught" to experience things
differently than you have, and perhaps the
reason you have difficulty understanding
them is that you are not allowing for this.
Two Statues Two Birds Pecking Food
7 IF YOU USE YOUR IMAGINATION,
YOU CAN SEE LOTS OF THINGS IN THE
CLOUD FORMATIONS... U1HAT DO YOU
THINK YOU SEE, LINUS?
THAT CLOUD UP THERE LOOKS A LITTLE
LIKE THE PROFILE OF THOMAS EAKINS,
THE FAMOUS PAINTER AND SCULPTOR...
UH HUH...THA1'5 VERY GOOD...
WHAT DO YOU 5EE IN THE
CLOUDS, CHARLIE BROWN? /
WELL, THOSE CLOUDS UP THERE
LOOK TOME LIKE THE MAP OF THE
BRITISH HONDURAS ON THE CARIBBEAN..
AND THAT GROUP OF CLOUDS OVER THERE
GIVES ME THE IMPRESSION OF THE STONING
0F STEPHEN ...I CAN 5EE THE APOSTLE
PAVL STANDING THERE TO ONE SIDE...
WELL, I WAS GOING TO SQY i71,
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 n ~ ,a r_r n 1 nnr n~iee._, C-I onoo~ nn7PflDfl .nnnenrL~~ n
THE BLIND MEN
ON
THE ELEPHANT
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant, / And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side, / At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant / Is very like a wall!"
The Second, feeling of the tusk / Cried, "Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp? / To me'tis very clear
This wonder of an Elephant / Is very like a spear!"
The Third approached the animal
And, happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands
Thus boldly up he spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
& Is very like a snake!" LVr1
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope.
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
is very like a rope!"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is very plain," quoth he;
'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"
P And so these men of Indostan / Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion / Exceeding stiff and strong.
Though each was partly in the right, / They all were in the wrong!
 r
01
This is the composite elephant the blind
men saw. It reminds us that the world
we live in is built up of the quite different
experiences that people have had, and
which they have managed to communicate
with each other. But let us also consider
that if the blind men had exchanged
places, and individually experienced that
portion of the elephant that they had
not felt previously, they ultimately would
have been able to agree upon a much
better looking elephant than this one. As
we read, and listen, and experience, we
establish the basis for a closer
understanding of what others experience,
and thus we can-in the end-find that
we have much more to agree on than
to disagree about. It is when we stop
learning that we begin to build the barrier
that keeps us from understanding other
people-and perhaps finding common
agreement with them.
 HOW DO WE CREATE SYMBOLS?
So far, we have managed to get some part of
some event happening outside-your-skin inside your skin. We have said that, as a result,
you have had some kind of an experience inside of you, and you have tried to
interpret it. rv., Now the question arises-how can you get this interpretation you have
made back out again so that it will pass through the world outside-your-skin and
possibly inside-some-one-else's-skin? How, indeed, can a purely personal, internally
experienced event be shared with someone else? (For that is what we do when we
communicate.) m, Well, for the most part, what you do is to create a new event in the
world outside-your-skin. As we shall shortly see, this new event that you create has all
the outside-your-skin "objectivity" of any other event in the world outside, and it is
received by whomever you are talking or writing to, just like any other "real" event.
But it is not the original event you experienced-and it is not the inner event you
experienced. ee' The word (or symbol) you create is not the event that it reports on-
it is a new event entirely.
As far as we now know, there are three
principal ways in which human individuals
can communicate with each other:
By actual physical touch
We communicate this way nearly every day
-we make ourselves understood with
a tap on the shoulder
a pat on the back
a slap on the cheek
.. and the ritualistic extension
of the handshake.
The physical pressure of some
part of your body, or an exten-
sion of it, acts as an outside
event to stimulate responses in
someone else's nervous system.
We also communicate-
by visible movements of some portions of our
bodies... much of our daily communication
occurs by means 'of
a finger pointing
a wink of an eye
.. a nod of the head
.. a shrug of the shoulders
a smile ... grimace ... or scowl
By moving some portion of
our bodies in space, we
change the angles of inci-
dence and the angles of re-
flection of visible light waves.
These changes, if seen by
someone else, are an event to
them which they can inter-
pret in the same way they
would any other "outside"
event.
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And we communicate by symbols,
which "stand for" something we have
experienced internally.
We use audible symbols .. .
Spoken symbols are
"outside" events we create
by directing our vocal
muscles to vibrate a pulsed
code, setting into motion
similarly pulsed vibrations
in the air. These are picked up as "real" outside
events by the person we are talking to ...
And we use visible symbols ...
Visible symbols are created by
manipulating our muscles to
create patterns in some material
that is not a part of our bodies.
These patterns reflect visible
light in unique ways, and can
thus be distinguished from each
other. To the person who sees
them, they are real events that are
experienced by him and can be
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Most of our present day failures
in communication can be traced either to
misunderstandings of the role that symbols
play in inter-human communication,
or to inadequacies in the way that we create,
transfer and perceive symbols-whether
they are spoken or written.
Perhaps if we had some clear-cut idea
of what symbols do (remember, they are
events, as we create and experience them, not
things) we would find it easier to reduce
or even eliminate some errors we make that
lead to our misunderstanding each other.
Here are some commonly used
"visual" symbols :
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O
9
aNv ~
NSTRUCT
iJ?sA
'F L AS
ous TodaySOUTi(5 NEGROES
SLOWTOREGISTER:
,U.SHELPSOUGHT
~' x~r, r,aen u=K was
E u?-eF k...euer i.
In
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any :1i.~e
 Since words, and AppldvediF)o R 1easeA04/01/2
seem to give us more trouble in
communication than other types of visual
symbols, let us see what a word appears to be
when we consider it as a pattern that
reflects wave lengths of visible light .. .
We might try the word Star.
The four configurations that make up
the written word have 24 possible left-to-right
combinations ...
STAR
TSAR
SATR
TASR
SART
TRSA
SRAT
TARS
T AS
STRA
TSRA
SRTA
TRAS
FAST
Notice that only one of the configurations
reflects the wavelength pattern we call Star.
So, in the patterns we create in our nervous
systems and transmit to our muscles,
which move a pen or paint brush or typewriter
keys-we are instructing our muscles
to arrange something outside ourselves
in a left-to-right code.
It does not matter whether the image
we thus create is big or small ...
It does not matter, within wide limits,
what type faces the word is set in ...
It does not matter if the word is set in type
or written out in script ...
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(t tFI$44W QOic5Q4O5W47e2d "Star"
and as nothing else, because the relationship
of each letter, from left to right, or from
top to bottom, is precisely maintained.
If we were to "program" instructions
for writing the word "Star" we could say. . .
I' " is always first whether the
word is written from left or right, or
fro in top to bottom.
always appears immediately
to the right, or just below "S".
IT " always appears to the right, or
below "ST".
h" always appears to the right or
below "STA".
AR T A R S T A R S
R S A R S T A R S T
STAR'.
., , At, STA
TA S T A R S T A R
ARSTARSTARS
RSTARSTARST
We have to be taught to recognize these
unique left-to-right patterns, in the
same way we are taught to recognize a cup
and saucer (as on page 8), no matter
at what angle we view them, or under what
lighting conditions, providing only that
the edges remain visible.
Thus, in the use of words for communication,
it is the spelling-the rigid adherence to a
"positional notation"-that is of the most
importance. It is not the "meaning" because
the meaning is not in the word, but in the
person who is using it.
Spellings change but slowly over a period
of time, and when they do, the left-to-right
uniqueness of the pattern remains much
the same. Meanings change with speakers,
regions, contexts, and time.
 In summary:
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We translate an inner experience,
inside our nervous system, into pulsed
electrochemical codes that instruct
our muscles to contract or expand in
specific ways ...
Our muscles translate these codes into
actions that move objects outside-our-skin
into patterns that have a prescribed
left-to-right or up-to-down order in space...
These patterns reflect wavelengths of light
in the visible range. The wavelengths
are transmitted to and received by other
nervous systems in exactly the same
way as any other event in space/time ...
Received by another nervous system,
these patterns of light waves form the basis
for a new experience, which, in turn,
may result in a new set of symbol responses.
Much the same thing happens, of course,
when we communicate with spoken
language, except that we use sound waves
instead of light waves.
When we act as if we believed that a word
symbol is the event that was originally
experienced, we ignore all the steps that have
made it something else....
Common words cannot possibly have
meanings in themselves-only people can
have meanings.
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IN SEARCH OF THE MEANING OF MEANING
F rom now on we are going to talk about common
words in everyday use, and not about all the other types of symbols and symbol systems
that we use for communicating with each other ... we also will try to explore what is
meant when we talk about "meaning"-for it is the transfer of meaning that is the goal
of interhuman communications.
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 There are believed to rOj FOO$e1 ase 2004/01/29: CIA-RDP ?e ew to of 0 , 947-2
words in the English language today.
The number is constantly growing,
as we add new human experiences
to be reported upon (through the use of
extensions of our natural senses-
telescopes, microscopes, spectroscopes, etc.)
or as we coin new expressions to
describe present experiences-hula hoops,
m.e-tooism, high camp, etc.
The number of words (other than
technical ones connected with a business or
profession) that an educated adult uses
in. daily conversation is about 2,000.
Of these, the 500 most frequently used have
14,000 dictionary definitions.
This is a pitifully small number of symbols
to describe the infinite richness and
diversity of individual human experiences.
*With apologies to C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards
who wrote a book called "The Meaning of Meaning."
They found 16 groups of meanings for the word
"meaning" in the English language.
add new experiences for
us to report
Cyliernetics
Min iaturiza?ioo
Cryogenic
i3ioceno'ogy
Electrochenmis1e
Old technologies we no longer
draw experience from,
whose words are disappear-
ing from common use
Alchemy
Chandlery
Heraldry
8lacksmithiriY
Falconry
Cannonry
Old words once used to
describe one experience, that
are now used to describe
other experiences
Missile
Compact
Spectacular
Twist
Carpetbagger
Maverick
Gauntlet
Approved For-ReIeeateo2004/01E/29 CIA-RDP84-0078OR001500050047-2 19
 Approved or Release
There are about 298 million English speaking
people alive in the world today.
To some extent, their individual experiences
differ from all others. Every fraction of a
second in their lives, they are experiencing
something that is not exactly like any
experience they have had before, or that
anyone else has had.
Yet they have the same meager store of
accepted symbols to use in reporting to each
other what they have experienced.
Each common word/symbol must, therefore,
necessarily be used to cover a wide range
of "meanings."
Let us look at one common word-perhaps
you have used it once or more today-
and see what a dictionary says it "means."
Having glanced at what the Shorter
Oxford Dictionary has to say about the
"meaning" of LEAD-can you write down
here the "real meaning" of the word?
Of course you can't.
(A dictionary does not tell us what common words "mean." A
dictionary is a history of how a word has been used most fre-
quently in some contexts and at different times. A dictionary in-
dicates various areas of meaning, at various periods of time.)
Lead (led), .eb.I ~OE. Mad sir. neut. = Du-
lood lead, MHG. lot (mod .G. lot, loch) plum-
met, also solder.] 1. The heaviest of the base
metals, of a dull pale bluish-grey colour, easily
fusible, soft and malleable. Chemical symbol
Pb. Rarely p1. = kinds of lead. tb. Some-
times called black lead (= L. plumbum nigrum)
in contradistinction to white lead (plumbum
album), a name for tin -1753. 2. See RED
LEAD, WHITE LEAD. 3. Short for BLACK
LEAD, graphite, or plumbago. Hence, a small
stick of graphite for filling a pencil. 1840. 4.
The metal as fashioned into a leaden coffin, a
bullet, etc.; the leaden part of anything ME.
5. a. A large pot, cauldron, or kettle- (Orig.,
one made of lead.) Now only dial. OE. b.
dial. A leaden milk-pan. 6. A sounding-lead
1440. 7. 1. a. The.strips of lead used to
cover a root; often collect. for a lead flat, a lead
roof, toccas. construed as sing. 1578. b. The
lead frames of the panes in lattice or stained
glass windows 1705. 8. Printing. A thin strip
of type-metal, used in type-composition to
separate lines 1808.
1. Phr. $To lie, be wrapt in 1.: to be buried in a 1.
coffin. So tto lay,. lap in 1. 4. Heauen keepe L, out
of nice Sinits. 6. Phr. To cast, heave the 1. To
arm the 1.: to fill the hollow in it with tallow in order
to discover the nature of the bottom by the substances
adhering (Smyth). 7. a.. A Goodly Leads upon the
Top, railed with Statua's interposed BACON.
Comb:, : L?arming, the tallow used for arming a
lead (see 6); -ash, -ashes litharge; ?bath, (a) the
mass of melted I. in a lead-furnace ; (b) the molten 1,
with which gold and silver ores are melted before
cupellation ; 1. glance (= Du. laadglans), galena ;
light, a window in which small panes are fixed in
leaden tames, also attrib. ; .line, (a) a sounding,-lead
or plumb-line ; (6) a line loaded with leaden weights,
running along the bottom of a net; (c) a bluish grey
line along the gums at their junction with the teeth,
indicating lead-poisoning; -mill. (a) an establishment
for producing milled or sheet I.; (6) a circular plateof
I. used by the lapidary for . grinding or roughing;
nail (mostly pl.), a nail used to fasten a sheet oft.
on aroof; -ochre = MASStcor?; -paper, atest.paper
treated with a preparation of l.; -pencil, a pencil of
graphite, often enclosed in cedar or other wood;
lant(U.S.), a shrub (A,norpha canescens) found in
the west of the Mississippi valley, and believed to indicate the presence of 1. ore; -plaster = DIACHYLONI
poisoning, poisoning by the introduction of 1. into
the system; .spar = ANGLESITE or CsaussirE; -tree,
(a) a W. Indian name for the tropical leguminous tree
Leucana glauca ; (6) a crystalline deposit of metallic
1. or zinc that has been placed in it solution of acetate
of I.; -vitriol= ANGLESITE; -water (=.Ger.blei.
wasser), dilute solution of acetate of 1. ; -works
plumbe`s' work and material; work in I., tap. glaciers
work; sworks 41., an establishment for smelting
lead-ore; -wort, a herbaceous plant of southern
Europe (Plumbago europaae; also, any plant of the
genus Plunrbago or the order Plaurbaginacex.
Lead (lid), sb.2 ME. If. LEAD V.I] tr.
The action of LEAD v.t ; leading -151o, b.
Direction given by going in front; example
esp. in phr. to follow the 1. of 1863. C. spec. in
Hunting, etc., chiefly 'n hr- to iv 1
to go first in leaping a~I 4J' bi
guiding indication 1851. 2. The front or lead-
ing place; the place in front of (something).
Also, the position or function of leading (e.g.
The action or right of playing the first card in
a round or trick ; also, the card so played, or
proper to be played, or the suit to which it be-
longs 1742. 5. Curling. The first player or
the stone first played. 1685. 6. Mining. a.
LODE 5. 1812. b. Gold-mining An alluvial
deposit of gold along the bed of an ancient
river 1855. 7. Theatr. 'I he principal part in a
play; also, one who plays such a part 1874. 8.
Friendly lead (see FRIENDLY a. 2). Also
simply lead. 185x. 9. techn. a. Electricity. (a)
The angle between the plane through the lines
of contact. of the brushes or collectors of a
dynamo or electric motor. with the commutator
and the transverse plane bisecting the magnetic
field. (6) A conductor conveying electricity
from the source to the place where it is used.
1881. b. Engineering, etc. The distance to
which ballast, coal, soil, etc. has to be conveyed
(see LEAD V.' I b). .to its destination 1841. C.
Horology. The action of a tooth, as a tooth of
a wheel, in impelling another tooth or pallet
1880. d. Naut. The direction in' which running
ropes lead fair, and come down to the deck
(Smyth) s86o. e. Steam-engine. (See quots.)
1838-
a. Phr. To take the (or a) 1. to occupy the front
place, to assume the function o!` leader. Each of our
porters took the 1. in turn TYNDALL. 4. Phr. To
return one's partners 1.: to play from the same suit
on getting the 1. 9. e. L. c/the crank, the setting of
the crank of one engine a little in advance of the
right angle to the other; name]yy at coon or xso? in
place of ?. This assists in rendering the motion of
the piston more uniform, by moderating its velocity
at the end of the stroke. L. ofthe valve, the amount
of opening which a valve has when the engine is on
the centre 1887.
Cwnb.: 1.-off, a commencement !? also that which
leads o(f, the first of a series; -rents Coaching, the
P: ins; -screw, 'the main screw of a lathe,.
which gives the feed motion to the slide-rest' (Web.
ster).
Lead (lid), v.1 Pa. t. and pa. pple:'led.
[Corn. Teut. wk. vb.: OE. lfdan : OTeut.
laidjan, f. *laidB road, journey (see LOAD,
LODE sbs.), related to OE. 116an to go, travel.]
L To conduct. 1. trans. To cause to go
along with oneself. fa. To bring or take (a
person or animal) to a place. (Phrases like to
1. captive. are now understood in - sense 2.)
-1704.` b.,To carry or convey, usu. In a cart,
etc.. Now only n. dial.: To -cart (coal, corn,
etc.). . To 1. in. (grain) : to house. OE. c. To
bring forward, adduce (testimony) ; to bring
(an action). Now only in Sc. Law. ME2.
To conduct, guide, esp. by going on in. ad-
vance OE. b. Of motives, circumstances.
etc.: To guide, direct to a place ME. c. Of
a clue, light, sound, etc.: To serve (a person)'
as an indication of the way ; to mark the
course for. Also absol. to 1. in (Naut.) : to
mark the course.for entering port. 1697. d.
absaal. 1580. a.. Phr.To 1..thee way: t(a) to
(`t'dtcL; tfYe~dT1tT 8`EA'p~dM~fi' dtZ 30
Of a commander: To'march at the head of
and direct the movement of. Also with on.
OE. a. To conduct (a person) by holding the
by argument, etc., to a conclusion; to induce
to do something ME. 6. Of a way, road, etc.:
To conduct (a person) to or into a place.
Hence absol. or intr.: to have a specified
direction. ME. b. intr. To form a channel
into, a connecting link to (something) 1833. c.
intr. To 1. to: to have as a result 1970. 7. To
1. (a person) a dance: transf. and fig., to put
to the trouble of hurrying from place to place;
hence, to compel to go through a course of
irksome action. So to 1. (a person) a chase, a
life. 1529. 8. it. To conduct (water, steam)
through a channel or pipe ME. b. To guide
the course or direction of (something flexible;
e. g. a. rope, etc. over a pulley, through a hole.
etc.) OE. C. Naut. intr. Of a rope : To admit
of being led i86o. tg. To conduct (affairs) ; to
manage, govern -1$79.
1. b. Faith, sir, ha's led the drumme before the
English Tragedians SHAHS. C. No evidence has yet
been led to show Sne W. HAMILTON. a. Therefore
shall notMoses...his people into Canaan 1. Mtt.T.
P.L. x1I, 309. b. Instinct early led him into the
political arena 1892. c. L., Kindly Light, amid the
encircling gloom, L. Thou me on J. H. NP.WMAN.
d. Pray you 1. on Oih. t. i. 3t1. 3. The Prince.. led
them on with great gallantry 1736. . 4. The captive
soldier was led forth Goi.nsst. Phr. To F. a es (in
hell): see APE s6. To 1. (a bride) to the altar, to
church: to marry. b. The Moore..will as tenderly
be lead by th' Nose As Asses are Oth.I. UP. 407. S.
Tintoret. array I. you wrong if you don't understand
him Ruseiu. 6. Broad steps 1. down into a garden
x86x. c. Several seixuresof English cargoes led to
reprisals on our part; reprisals led to a naval war
M. PATTISON. 7. She had led him the life of a dog
1892. B. b. Ropes..led through blocks fixed to
stakes xtgs.
IL 'To carry on. t1. To engage or take
part in, to perform (dances, songs), to utter
sounds. Cf. L. ducere carmen, chores. -1493.
2. To, go through, pass (life, to portion of
time.).. Cf. L. dueere vitam. Rarely, tTo sup-
port life by (bread). OE.
a. Do 1. your own life and let ours alone l BROWNING.
IIL To precede, be foremost. (Cf. sense I.
2.) I. To have the first place in; lit. and ffieg.
esp. in to 1. the dance, the van ME. b. absol.
To go first. Also with of. 1998. 2. trans. To
direct by one's example to set (a fashion); to
take the directing or, principal part in (a pro-
ceeding, performance, etc.); to be chief of (a
party, a movement) ; to have the official initia-
tive in the proceedings of (a deliberative body)
1642. ? 8. Of a barrister: trans. To act as
leading counselin'(a cause); to act as leader
to (another barrister).; to take precedence of.
Also absol. or intr. 1806. 4. Card-playing. a.
intr. To play the first card. Also with off.
Said also of the card. Also-in indirect passive.
b, trans. As first player, to play (a specified
card) ; to play one of (a suit or a specified
suit). Also with out. 1731.
s. b. The Admiral's frigate led 19oo. a. To 1. an
insurrection x8441,, the singing x859, the prayers x866,
.o) Disraeled
k1QY4IibPOPL r1+ 44f A# To 1. toi ort1.lup
to: to playa card in order to bring out (cards held
by another player). b. 11. a heart Sw: rr.
Combs. (with advs.). Lead away. a. trans. To
induce to follow unthinkingly. Chiefly in parr. b.
 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
These are some of the most commonly used nouns and verbs
in our language. Each one must serve to convey a vast num-
ber of different meanings ...
CUT COME
WELL DOG AID
When talking about everyday words-the
kind we use in talking to our family and
friends, and to our business colleagues, it does
not get us very far to ask of a word that
has just been used-
"What does it mean?"
It may get us further along the way toward
understanding each other, if we ask the
speaker (or writer-they are the same thing
using different wave-length systems)-
"What do you mean?"
Lebd (led) Eb, [OE. Lead : led
[ d ~ ;t' sb 1
?1Nmd~aa .o
',ie~a h fie n
otr o g oP
lt o;
$q y
?co I orf,?li:
T
Fl e E p.
"l4a e'arcc g18, ; ( ni{
.trot [1~ ~. "uy
b W yr nrgJe y
Lead (lid), v.1 Pa. t. and pa. pple. led. Lead (lid), sb.2 ME.
[Com. Teut. wk. vb.-,OE. laedan ,-OTeut. [f. LEAD v.1]
'Iaidjan, f. 'laid6 'road, journey (see
LOAD, LODE,sbs 1, related to OE. /i6an
I. .To conduct 1 f ?To car r pn. ? l i t. To precede,
c trans To 4t !To engage be foremost
ause to no i ortakeportit (Cf sense;I -
oneself;to To (dances, ~'thefirstplace
a utferA.. in; . and Aa_
'bring or'fake? tongs)
,
`anirr)al!'to a docerecarmen, the'dance, the
olace.((Phrases _choros,-149&ritvan ME`+b
tine are.,0ow+' through, ass t 71 with':
understood in life p dr- off '"198
sense 2 )x tio~j of 9lme] 2 franc To
1704.rb ,To ACf ;,l ucero direct by one's
(Unavoidable parenthesis: it is equally
unproductive to ask an artist about his
painting-
"What does it mean?"
It is sometimes useful to ask the artist
"What do you mean?")
11 . The action of LEAD
v.1; leading -1510.
b. Direction given by
going in front; exam-
ple; esp. in phr. to
follow the 1. of 1863.
c. spec. in Hunting,
etc., chiefly in phr.
to give a I., i.e. to
go first in leaping a
fence, etc. 1859. d.
A guiding indication
1851. 2. The front or
leading place; the
place in front of
(something). Also, the
position or function
of leading (e.p a
nartvl, le,'de- .
Some day, we would like to
correct what we feel is a
misleading wLy that die
tionaries describe common
words. They list "mean-
ings" in vertical columns,
one below the other. We seem to
give some value of "superiority" to
that which is higher than some
thing else. We have the` feeling that,
the first definition is somehow
"more right" than the second,
third, etc.
Let us instead consider a dic
tionary that uses an illustrated
"spectrum" to indicate areas in
which a word has been used, how
frequently, and over what period
of time.
No such dictionaries ap-
parently exist today. But it
may be useful when you
look up common words in
a dictionary-one that has
many definitions-to think
of them as being die,trib-
uted across a spectrum.
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 Ago far, we have tAttlglz?rsfW?latr91/2
these give us quite a bit of trouble when
we use them in trying to express what we have
experienced.
"llig" words seldom give us much trouble ...
LOOK UP
? ICOSAHEDRON ?
IN ANY DICTIONARY. IT WILL
SAY "A GEOMETRIC FIGURE HAV-
ING 20 SIDES."
WE MAY HAVE TROUBLE SPELLING
O ICOSAHEDRON ?
WE MAY HAVE TROUBLE SAYING
ICOSAHEDRON ? ?
BUT WE HAVE NO TROUBLE
UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS MEANT
WHEN SOMEONE SAYS THAT
SOMETHING IS AN
? ICOSAHEDRON, S
HERE IS A BETTER WAY OFSAYING "
Ito
WHY'DESCRIBE SOMETHING^
WHEN :YOU' CAN SHOW IT?
One reason for this is that "big" words
frequently are ."labels." They "define
themselves" and these ' definitions are nearly
always "circular." Most of the technical
terms used in the professions and sciences fall
into this classification.
"Little" words often tell us what is meant
by them, from the context in which they
are used-
cIA~~~ayA4~~$~44~~oq~Q,~,7rr~~
ruefully at her ho(
"I've got a run."
We are pretty sure she does n 4 mean
the same thing as V illie Mays lows
when he says
"I've got a run."
The "medium" sized v ords give ? the mnrst
trouble because:
1. We get little or no womfort frrrn looking
them up in a dictionary.
2. We sometimes cannot figure of t what
the speaker "means" just fron the cont:ex
in which he has used the word
Here are a few medium-sized wo?ds
that we use nearly every day wh ?h~r can
give us trouble ...
I
country patriotism society gov :rnment
democracy republic people ex,:erience
business management leadership of jectives
politician natural virtue morals !cation
communism delinquent criminal jnsanity
etc, etc. etc.
Here's just one example: you will run into
dozens of others every day, if you listen
or look for them. Yet people act: rally believe
they communicate when they use words
in this way:
"Too much government is bad for business!"
This statement may mean sometl ing
to the person who used it-but it is utterly,
without effective meaning to the person
who hears or reads it.
You can lose a friend, but clarify the
statement, by asking a few questions:
What government do you mean? Federal,
state, county, city!-
Executive; legislative or judicial?
Elective 'or appointed?
Where is the government you mein?
In Nigeria? Athens? Outer Slobo :pia?
What time are you talking about
Today? Last month? In the Age of" Pericles?
During the American Colonial Pc icd?'
22 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
 Your friend may thApp1*VF?i1a004101
(I t?ee l that) WoWt bu4 it he is s what she he means) a,ns) "The policies of
the Committee of Ten (where?) in Carthage
:,tihen?~ in the 4th Century, B.C.
were deStrU(tiVe ("bad" in what way?) to the
rowth of commercial competition.
You may either agree or disagree with the
;oeaker-hut at least you now know what
it is you agree or disagree with. Sometimes it
is useful to know that.)
At this point, you might be tempted to ask-
"Why didn't you say so in the first place?"
Don't do it! It's a sure-fire way to make
people mad at you.
But it may be a good question to ask yourself
when people don't understand you.
29 : CIA P84i.1)1) & ,019th QQ0yOQ47i k irrofou is
statements like
-Then, fill in the
what, the place and t're time.
Sometimes you will di?(? )ver that y i don't.
know the what, where , r when-i pact, y i
haven't the slightest ide -i what yoi
are talking about. This is always ; gather
interesting discovery.
Or, you go ahead and s.; y it, with i a.mes,
places and dates. Perhaps nobody vill agr(,,,
with you, but at least tl ey won't a;],-,..
"Why didn't you say so n the first plice?"
You already have-
Common words do not have meanings-
Only people do.
And sometimes they don't, either.
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Lc i ` ,. u C~ I
i;=
 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
THE HUMAN TRANSACTION
t is sometimes useful to think of human
communications as "transactions."-& In the sense we mean here, a transaction involves the
interaction of the observer and what he observes. This can take place between ourselves
and the world-outside-our-skin. Or it can take place between two or more human beings.
The transaction may be an exchange of specially-created visual events, such as written
words, works of art, photographs, charts, equations etc., or in the form of spoken symbols,
as in ordinary conversation, speeches, songs and music. Whatever the symbolization,
the basic ingredients of the transactions are the same.
These transactions may include:
Something trarisforme
Something create
Something transmitted
Light and sound waves transformed into
electrical "codes" for transmission to the
muscles
Memory patterns stored in the nervous sys-:
tem as electro-chemical codes
Muscular movements .move objects so'that'
they' emit or'reflect. ;unique patterns of
visible light waves (or'create pulsed sound
waves) which are received by others as
events seen or heard.
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Light waves, sound waves, tactile impres-
sions, odors, tastes, etc. from outside-our-
 Approy ?, Teas Q04/O1/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
"Why didn't you say you had
a full-grown, brown and
white St. Bernard as a pet
in the first place?"
"Oh, what kind of a pet?"
When we communicate with each other,
it is useful to keep in mind that our common
words may not evoke the same image in
someone else's mind as they do in ours ...
Knowing this, we can help improve our
communications by being as specific
as possible in the way we use words ...
And, if you are on-the receiving end,
it often helps to ask questions..
Assuming that "everyone knows what you
are talking about"...
and assuming you know what others are
talking about without asking questions
to make "sure"...
... are two common causes of
communications failure..
Human communications frequently* seem to have a
"loop" or "closed circuit" pattern.
',RECEIVER;'
Many forms of eommunicatio, require a
closed"loopaor,ircalt' ::~
RECEIVE
RCE~VE
R Nis
MESSAGEE ESSAGE ',::= EN DER
`Frequently, but not always. When you read a book,
or other pattern of symbols, your response may be
purely internal, and does not go back to the person
who originated the message.
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 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
In our daily lives, particularly in business, education and government operation,;, many
interlocking communications loops may have to be used in order to perform even quite
simple communications. In the oversimplified case diagrammed below, we see some of the
interlocking loops that might be required in order to get a piece of advertising for a new
product started, prepared, submitted, and returned for correction. Notice through how
many minds the information has to pass-and remember, each mind will sei.e the
problem somewhat differently and the message may change slightly as it passes along.
RECEIVER
DIVISION
MANAGER
response:
don't.!
like it -.,;
k response
"OK,, :(ll gets
the agency
to watk on'"lt:'~'
RECEIVER
message
o sn`t~ke.
essage'
~'ThtCIi n
Woes
Itke I . f.
e;sage:
~' n.e
i.
ADVERTISING
MANAGER
SEN DER
ti
RECEIVER
ADVERTISING AGENCY
ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE
SENDER
N " "_11"
RECEIVER
AGENCY CREATIVE
SUPERVISOR
SENDER
VINgwilown
RECEIVER
COPY WRITER/
ARTIST
message
Prepare ,
Ia
is ing
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^response
It stawrk
right awa.
' response
We ire fined ,~t?,~ve
to'n l; creel
de rtmen ," rc,
message:'.,,,',,
Wants lug
announce
a new ;;
product.
sages
fl r mete ~~ message a
1 roduct ~ l lerc s the d
 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
hat we have tried to do
so far is to discuss some of the things that go into the
process by which we communicate with each other.
We have talked about Input ("What's Gotten Into You?")
and Processing ("What's Going On in There?") and
Output ("Words, Words, Words") for all the world as if
we were some kind of computer, or something. Well,
that's sort of the way it is; something comes in,
something is done to it, and something comes out.
Now we want to talk about some of the everyday troubles
we have when we try to understand each other.
These troubles seem to be very much the same whether
we are talking to members of our family, or at a
luncheon of the Greater Metropolitan Daffodil Club, or
making a presentation to a board meeting. Business
communication differs from other communication
only in the environment in which it takes place.
We shouldn't have too many problems if we can keep a
few things in mind:
1. At best, our perception and knowledge of what we can
talk about is limited and fragmentary..-.-
2. Whenever we talk about something, we are talking
about something that happened inside of us, not
something outside of us ...
3. What happened inside of us did not necessarily happen
the same way inside someone else ...
4. Common words do not in themselves have meanings;
only the people who use them have meanings ...
With these precepts firmly in mind, we can trudge
forward with confidence toward the molehills of fact and
the mountains of inference we make out of them; the
"ism of is," and other strange places ...
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 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 ROO1500050047-2
To most of us, this is a pretty familiar scene. So familiar that we may tend to feel tha- we see mor+
in it than is there for us to see. Try answering the questions below and see how y~,u come )u
Which ? of the following statements
-are true, false, or cannot be answ, ered :at ail?
The Jones family owns a TV set
watches TV
Johnny's father is a stockholder
LIFE and ;FOR UNE
="
TheJones family subscribes to TIME
t$
'Chere arse three people k the room ,
6 Mrs Jones is knitting a" sweater
Mrs. Jones. and, Johnny
11. _ They are watching`an evening television show
(Answers on page 30)
28 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 ROO1500050047-2
 Approved or a ease 2004101129 : - - 500050047-2
AS A MATTER OF FACT
IF YOU PLAYED the little game on
the opposite page, chances are that you
felt that at least some of the statements
about the people in the picture were
"true." You may have considered them
statements of "fact".
And you may have been a little dis-
concerted to discover that some of the
things you called "facts" are what we
are going to call "inferences."
Let us see if we can explain what we
mean by "fact" and "inference" be-
cause everything we have said so far
in this issue has been built around what
we believe to be the difference between
the two. (For instance, the first pages
of the book tried to show that "facts"
are something that happens inside of
us and that everything we say about
what happened inside of us is not the
fact, but is only what we say about it.
We can say that something looks like
something, but we cannot say what it
"is," apart from what it looks-sounds,
tastes, feels, etc.-like.)
So, we'll say that a "fact" (for you)
is something you personally experi-
enced. And we will go further and say
that everything else is an "inference"
(for you).
These are harsh definitions. Indeed,
if we had to live in a world where there
were only "facts" (as we have defined
them), it would be a pretty small world,
limited to those few things we could
personally touch, hear, taste, smell or
see. We do not feel that we live in such
a world and "common sense" tells us
that there are many things we can ac-
cept as "facts" that we have not person-
ally experienced.
And we are going to agree with you.
We are simply going to say that as long
as you are conscious of the difference
between "facts" and "inferences" you
are less likely to run into trouble when
you talk and listen to other people than
if you don't distinguish between them.
We can further say that for most
common, everyday living a "fact" is
something that is socially agreed upon.
It can be considered a "fact" if most
people believe it to be "true" or if those
people who are expert in it agree upon
it. We can act as if such things were
"facts," but we must remember that
facts defined in this way are subject to
change.
(For example, for a good many cen-
turies most people believed that the
world was flat, even though no one actu-
ally had reported having seen anyone
"fall over the edge." And for several
centuries top scientists believed that it
was light, shining out of your eyes, that
made the world visible. Mere consensus
does not establish unchanging "facts"
because the consensus is based upon
what is said about an experience).
We may also find it useful to keep in
mind that "facts" change with time.
Or rather, that facts relate to time. The
statements that New York City has a
GOOD GRIEFf
population of 10,000; of 200,000 and of
7,891,000 people were statements of
fact at the time somebody counted them.
So, perhaps a good way to think about
facts is that they are something that
happened to you; that they are always
historical whenever you try to talk
about them. And a good way to think
about "inferences" is that they indi-
cate higher or lower probabilities.
These probabilities may be high be-
cause people have reported them widely
and repeatedly. (That the sun will come
up tomorrow morning enjoys a very
high probability, because in the experi-
ence we have had of it, it has always
done so. But, as any commuter knows,
the fact that the 8:15 train has been
on time every morning for the past four
days does not mean that it will for sure
be on time tomorrow morning. Both
statements are inferences ; but one has
STOPlOOjameATMil
Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
 "J 1.11E
other and we can aApp Ved;jQd's ReIe se 2004/0
it were a fact).
We can-and do-disagree on "facts"
to the extent that our individual experi-
ence of the world is different. But what
we mostly get into trouble about are
disagreements about inferences, which
we have stated as if they were facts.
Suppose we both looked through a
microscope. We might reasonably agree
that that wiggly little thing down there
is a wiggly little thing down there. But
if I say that it is a paramecium, and
if you say that it is an amoeba (both
statements necessarily inferences) we
may be in for an argument.
And we can make this area of dis-
agreement even wider-and thus our
chances of understanding each other
smaller-if we continue then to make
new inferences concerning the first in-
ference. We can, and sometimes do,
build a whole crazy superstructure of
inference built on inference-as in the
chart on this page concerning the "man
with a briefcase."
You can build similar charts around
almost any common event in your daily
life and quickly discover why you some-
times have difficulty understanding
other people-and why, sometimes, they
misunderstand you.
WHAT HAPPENED' MRS"A" SAY$
i3 ..A.,.xi zt i,1
fer q e e Is k n
THE EVENT,~~.?Ifsee;a
r "Hemust be.a' e
3 l (n a `nee dedicated'man&to
x take Work'home
'1madn E>at ded
sated i
s pound to'
e a success in life
and an asset to our
cam Ut
1/29 :CIA-RDP84-00780R001500050~47 2 - -
NONE OF THE STATEMENTS ON PAGE 28 CAN BE SAID TO BE
TRUE FROM WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SAW IN THE PICTURE
1. You do not know that the set is owned by them; it could be borrowed, or
a demonstration set.
2. You do not know whether Johnny is doing homework or n.,t; all you can
see is that he has a book in front of him.
3. You do not know that Johnny's father is a stockholder; you only know
he is looking at the stock market report. Matter of fact, you don't know
he is Johnny's father, either. Ile may be an uncle or friend just visiting
in the house.
4. You do not know that it is a Western. It could be a commercie I or a foreig-n-
made movie, or almost anything.
5. You do not know that it is Mrs. Jones, and you cannot tell what she is
knitting.
6. You do not know that Mr. Jones (if, indeed, that is Mr. Jones) actually
smokes cigars. You only can see that there is a cigar on the ashtray.
Perhaps someone else left it there.
7. You do not know how many people might be in the room; you can only
see that there are three people in the part of the room shown in the pic-
ture.
8. You do not know what magazines they subscribe to. The ones on the table
may have been purchased at a newsstand or loaned by a friend.
9. You do not know if this is the Jones family; nor can you tell if there are
other members of the family who are not present.
10. Could be a neighbor's cat, making itself "at home."
11. You cannot tell if it is evening or not; only that the lights ar,~ on. Perhaps
it is midday and the shades have been drawn.
e ;.
surprised ` f tha "
~Tht coq t is?
'Ilfes.
da J
,
Ilt nless tithe !
som
t
`
e
h ing abo
we re pin'trou lei?
 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
THE TROUBLE WITH IS, IS IS
If we were to track down
and corner in its lair
what we believe to
be one of the
chief causes
of problems
in everyday
communications,
we would
describe
it as the
misuse of
the word...
"It is good.."
For one thing, what we consider
"bad" are the many ways in which it
can be misused in everyday speech :
So what's so bad about "is"?
BEHIND the unqualified use of the
word "is" lurk a number of assump-
tions, each of which can lead to trouble.
(We use the word "unqualified" because
there certainly appear to be places in
our common speech where trying to
avoid using the word "is" is-see?-
not worth the effort it takes).
"He is lazy..."
"That is a rock
all have one thing in common. The "is"
implies that we are describing some-
thing "out there" that has a certain
quality-"goodness,' I "laziness," or
"rocklike"-which exists independently
of. our personal experience of it. And
the next implication is that you must
agree because "obviously" that is what
it is. But what we really are describing
is an `internal experience (see pages 3
through 12) which may have validity.
'
only for us.
; One way out of this dilemma may be
to say:
"h"think it is good ...
believe he is lazy
It.looks tome like a rock.
limited 'numbert;;of possibilities (an ex
~ 94,
pert, may beTdefined as- a person "who knows how much he does not know'.').
Of these,pos'sil ilities, we have chosen
one (or several) for a personal reason
that may have validity only for us.
how,? est_it can be,described _But,? In ,n:
b~w? oroughly' and lave determined ~'
the ndd the subject (whatever itnnay k
her thing we imply whenxwe use
? rit" 4 `kr :.
pe }ante inside ourselves
.W P-MW
desc l e s not"'"out there" but an ex'
we can at least think this wayto'our
selves as a .'reminderthat ,what, we
In our everyday. speech, in memos
Approved For Release 2004/01/29 CIA-RDP84-007808001500050047-2 31
 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780RiD04M0M4frences and con-
versation, we hear or read pronounce;
ments like,"He is an organization man,"
or, "He is unimaginative," rendered
with the air of finality that would be
more proper coming from the Princeton
Institute of Advanced Learning.
If you take a look at the chart on this
page which partially lists some of
the things that might be said about
an individual (just as many things
could be said about the company you
work for, or an organization you belong
to, or your neighborhood) you will see
that they represent a wide spectrum of
different experiences that different
people have had at different times with
this one individual. To choose one and
to speak of it as if it characterized the
real, living person, is to imply "all."
When you imply "all" you seem to have
32 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
 closed the subject; yoA d'Uf R6fei 2>W4/(M29d td3A4MM**0760iR6 1 0 0U471Wn operations. It
said, "Ile's , and that's all
there is to it."
Now, no one believes you should try
to say all about a subject every time
you say something about it; that would
be nonsensical, even if it were possible.
But you can describe your reaction to
a person or situation in such a way as
to make it clear that you are making an
inference (see pages 28 through 30)
based on your own limited personal
experience.
You can say, "I've only seen him a
few times but he seemed to be a nice
guy," (instead of, "He is a good guy,")
or you could say, "I've seen him several
times at club meetings and he strikes
me as a loudmouth," (instead of, "He
is a loudmouth.")
When we make clear the limitations
ing about that experience rather than
the person, event or thing, we leave
open the way to further discussion
(rather than disagreement and argu-
ment.) No one can seriously question
that that was what you felt; but every-
one can-and most people do-argue
with the categorical statement, "That
is
There is still another way in which
we sometimes use "is" that can lead to
trouble. We may use it in the sense of
"identities"-as in the phrase "2+2=
4." We substitute "is" for the "=" sign
and say "2+2 is 4." They are not the
same thing at all. "2+2 is 2+2." But it
does not appear to be "4." "4" is some-
thing else altogether. The arithmetical
expression simply says that we can use
the symbol "4" instead of "2+2" in cer-
,bua+'f~~
sa-cam l~
.
(Zp~GL 4
fib
CI - ALiti
44
7ry~Gl~~ a.GU O'~u .
is permissive but it is not descriptive.
When we use "is" as if it was an "_"
sign in common speech, as in "truth is
beauty" or "knowledge is power" we
begin to wander rather far afield from
the world we actually experience.
This all may sound so obvious as to
be almost childlike. Yet the "fact" re-
mains that many of us, every day, use
"is" as if it were some kind of a weapon.
In doing so, we replace the richness and
diversity of human experience with a
dull and lifeless monochrome. We kill
the animal and dry its skin and nail it
to the temple wall, and in the end reduce
the world we describe to a two-dimen-
sional diagram-sans color, sans depth,
sans motion-sans everything.
"Approved For Rase 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
IT'S A MAD, MAD MAZE
Just for fun, read the fol-
lowing description, which is
taken from the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, and then see which
of the illustrations it de-
scribes.
It is small, with a long nose,
ears and tail, the latter being
naked and prehensile. The op-
posable first hind toe is claw-
less and the tip is expanded
into a flat pad. The other
digits all bear claws. The best
known species is about the
size of a cat, gray in color, the
fur being woolly.
(We gave three artists the
description above-nothing
more-dnd this is what
they drew.)
THE DESCRIPTION at left is of an
opossum. If you didn't guess that, we
don't blame you, because first of all,
none of the drawings looks very much
like what we know to be an opossum,
does it? And yet, you may notice that
each drawing is still a legitimate inter-
pretatign of the description. Who can
deny that in each picture the tail is
naked, the nose is long, etc.?
And second, we didn't include any
statements that would conform to what
is probably your common conception of
an opossum, such as "it hangs upside
down when it sleeps and carries its
young in a pouch."
But perhaps the point to be made
here is that this has been a demonstra-
tion of something that occurs very fre-
quently in our everyday dealing with
others. We could call it "by-passing,"
for it happens when someone says (or
writes) something, and someone else
hears (or reads) something quite dif-
ferent. It is the missing of meaning
between persons.
"Time flies."
"You can't. They fly too fast."
This, too, is a very simple and harm-
less instance of by-passing. Why does
it occur?
Well, to begin with, a very cogent
argument could be developed that there
are more than 31/2 billion different lan-
guages in the world. Each of us talks,
listens, and thinks in his own special
language (and sometimes he uses sev-
eral) which contains slight variations
of agreed-upon meanings that are
uniquely individual, and which may
change each second. Our personal
country, province, section, neighbor-
hood, profession, personality, attitudes
and mood of the moment. And the
chances that even a few of us will share
all of these "ingredients" in the same
way at the same time is pretty remote.
Lawyers and dentists might disagree,
for instance, over the word "closure,"
children could misinterpret the warn-
ing of a parent about crossing the
street as merely a distasteful restric-
tion, the company vice-president might
view a polite comment from the com-
pany president as a "subtle suggestion,"
and so on. It all depends, we might say,
on which window we're looking through.
What sometimes renders the win-
dows a bit opaque is the misleading
emphasis that can be placed on the
words. An assertive intonation or a
subtle inflection may "change" the feel-
ing of the words. The plain question,
"What are you doing?" may become a
sarcastic "What are you doing?" or a
shocked "What are you doing?" or per-
haps a belittling "What are youdoing?"
depending upon the way it is spoken.
Perhaps the little "conversation
maze" on page 35 shows how easily
our different "language worlds" can
cause dead-ends of misunderstanding.
In looking for a clue to solve this
often troublesome problem, we might
return to what we said on page 21 about
listening to people, not just words, to
find meaning. If, instead of asking,
"What does that mean?" we ask, "What
does he mean?" and if we are careful
to ask this of ourselves before we talk,
perhaps we can avoid some of the every-
day missed meanings in our communi-
language is shaped by our culture, cation with others.
34 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
.`,'George, have you seen..
the Simmons report?
I can't find it
"It: should be in the
file, Ted. I used
it a few days ago."
"Are you sure you
put it back? It
isn't'thsre." 1;1
"Don't you think I
put things back when
I'm through with them?"
"I'll look; just
in case."
Of course I do. Just
thought it might be r
buried underpsome papers."
to the file. Mind telling
71.
77
"Are you going along? I
thought you were tied:
up on that other account
Lope l ffmished that
o thought we coy d
o togetherr'
"Good! Two of us will ; ,
make a better impression
-,.'than just one 7
"I thought I
was going alone on
that one."
"I fe It two of us'","'
might.make more'of
animpression "+
"Don't you think:I
can hand
Tipat's not he~reason,,
George We want that
account, don't wee"
"Sure.`Maybe you-think
you can get it better
than I can."
"I didn't say that,"
Why is Ted
always picking
on me?
Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
THE BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN
Now we enter a very difficult part of
our exploration. Tread carefully
here, and avoid the enticements along
the way. There are three large traps
that lie along the path, and they are
easy to fall into. We call them the
traps of non-differentiation, and we
come upon them every day ...
"See one and you've seen 'em all"
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE what
you see in the picture at the left?
Perhaps we can guess that your de-
scription included some mention of the
figures climbing that very precipitous
mountain. You may have said some-
thing like "Men climbing a mountain,"
or "Mountain climbers," or "Some
people scaling a peak."
Yet it is obvious from their dress that
these "mountain climbers" also appear
to be a construction worker, a cowboy,
a policeman, etc. Each is different from
the others in some way.
This might lead us to an observation,
for if you first noticed them as "men,"
or "mountain climbers" or "people" you
were tying them together with words
in very much the same way as they are
tied together with ropes in the picture.
You expressed what you first saw-a
similarity among them.
What this demonstrates, perhaps, is
that in emphasizing the degree to which
they are alike you've made no mention
of the differences among them.
In our everyday talking, listening,
thinking, reading, etc., we tend to do
very much the same sort of "tying to-
gether" of things, people, attitudes, and
the like. Perhaps you've noticed from
time to time how very easy it is to
"categorize" the elements of our world,
while it often takes a conscious effort
to recognize the differences, the nu-
ances that make each thing unique in
its own way.
Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
 The point to be mall pproAl rEepRef e?@04/Q462?idcGIA-RDP84-0078CROM45on'@!*04?lf2e other when de-
is that to the extent we see only simil- to every question" fining something-largely because it s
aritios and ignore differences, we limit
our observation of the world about us.
We raise a flag over our brigade and
issue each member the same size cloth-
ing.
Now look at the illustration directly
below. What do you see? Perhaps the
first thing you notice is how different
each view of the ball is from the others.
Sometimes the difference between them
is slight, but taken together the illus-
tration shows quite a wide range of
possible aspects of one single ball.
We can see that in the world we
experience about us there is some cor-
respondence to that illustration. Some-
times the differences between two
things are slight-often they are signi-
ficant. And surely in the whole range of
things in a "category," there is bound
to be an opportunity for great disparity.
You might argue here that our ability
to learn is largely dependent upon the
extent to which we are able to see sim-
ilarities-to associate and relate vari-
ous facts, theories and subjects. We
agree there wouldn't be much point in
teaching a child the rather abstract
concept of 1+1=2 if he couldn't use this
knowledge to keep track of his marbles
at recess and much later, to evaluate
the financial solvency of his company !
And perhaps, then, we come to a con-
clusion. We might say that it is often
beneficial to discriminate among the
things we experience, so that we notice
the differences among things that are
apparently similar, and the similarities
among things that appear different.
It would seem that this approach
might be more rewarding as we deal
with our world-it might be good to
add, when next we are tempted to say,
"See one and you've seen them all," the
question, "or have you ?"
WE PROBABLY CAN AGREE that in
the world we experience every day there
are very few events that we can classify
as being either one thing or another-
ours is not a black or white world, for
the most part. We realize that people
do not have to be either fat or thin, tall
or short, rich or poor, etc. They may be
a little of both.
Yet we find it difficult to describe the
multitude of "in-betweens," the not
quite blacks and not quite whites, be-
cause our language is structured in
such a way that there is a sad shortage
of "in-between" words.
Try, for example, to fill in the blank
spaces below with words that indicate
the degrees of possibility between
"either-or:"
good evil
pleasant unpleasant
sweet sour
Difficult, isn't it? In fact, it's nearly
impossible without using some rather
imprecise adjectives such as "very,"
"more," "fairly," etc. But this is all our
language allows in many cases-there
are few precise "medium ground"
words.
As a result, we tend to slip from one
easier than searching for an interme-
diate word. For example, if a man can't
be described as honest, we are likely to
call him dishonest. If he is not a suc-
cess, he's a failure, etc.
This isn't to say that there is no such
thing as an "either-or" proposition. We
can understand how at any given time
a person has to be either dead or alive
(he can't be both), standing or sitting,
that the sun will rise at 6:05 tomorrow
or it will not, and so on. Practically all
things that can be accurately termed as
"either-or," however, are happenings
that must be related to a certain point
in time.
It is when we apply "either-or" alter-
natives to events that have many de-
grees of possibility, and when we treat
them as "either-or" in our attitudes
and daily conversation, that trouble
may begin.
The old expression, "There are two
sides to every question," generally
thought to demonstrate a broadminded
view of things, is quite restricting
when we stop to realize that there are
SOONER OR LATER,
CHARLIE BROWN,
THERESONE THING
YOU"RE GOING TO
NAVE TO LEARN...
AND NO LE55!'.
7IUD KIND OF LIKE TO
5EE A LITTLE MORE
MAR61N FOR ERROR!
'OO REAP WHAT'OU 500! YOO
6ET CUT OF LIFE EXACTLY (GHAT
YOU POT INTO IT! NO MORE
Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
 rea113
But N
as we
may I
langu
this 1
many sides
toA rp sEol .Rele t2> .4/ %129s; JZ~"rDIRUtQQ78ARWJ?, iQQ QQ4;7r12iinde;? pres,ure.
e are inhibited by our language,
have seen, and since our attitudes
e viewed as largely the product of
tge, we can perhaps begin to solve
roblem at the level of language.
Ne It time we are tempted to imply
"eith r-or" in describing something,
then, aye might try instead to place the
state; tent we want to make against a
scale f "how much," "how important,"
etc. I; stead of saying "Johnny is a bad
boy," for instance, we might substitute
some hing like "Johnny deliberately
broke two dishes today. He said he was
sorry "
Pei haps happiness
little pore margin for
is, after all, a
error.
ONE WAY we might look at our ex-
perie ices of the day-to-day world
arour, I us is as if they were a continu-
ous n ovie film on which are captured
the co istantly moving, changing events
we ob ;erve.
We can close our eyes while watching
some event and the movie stops-our
mind pictures the frozen image of the
last " rame" we saw in much the same
way a ; a football play or an actor's ex-
pressi )n on television is "stopped" to
dram: tize an event.
CrtherTrain+>5g
Scho1asticyHonor
-GENERAL, INFORMATION:,-
Why Do You desire To'Atfihate 6!.'i his Organi
image is frozen in our mind's eye or on So you tell the man. -Sorry she was a
the television screen we do not for an poor secretary."
instant suppose that the action was
never completed in reality. We know
from experience that a football player
doesn't "freeze" in mid-air and an
actor's expression isn't immobilized on
his face. We can vividly imagine the
action continuing even if we don't see it.
And yet sometimes, in our dealings
with the people and things around us,
we tend to close our eyes and "freeze"
them as if they had not changed since
we last experienced them.
Attending a 20-year class reunion is
a good example of this. How shocked
we are to see how much others have
changed because we remember them as
we last saw them!
When we pause to think about it,
many of our attitudes and actions are
influenced by the "frozen" images we
have of people and things.
Have you ever returned to that
"quiet, scenic place" you had visited 10
years ago and been appalled to find a
crowded resort with gaudy signs?
Suppose someone calls to obtain a ref-
erence for a secretary who used to work
for you. You had to "let her go" because
she didn't seem interested in her work
Rrr-r %fA,~~ ~ ' ase s~,kd~..
q"11
Post c +, d ? r? '~ '~t x~j PesentlxzE!Op
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TypingSpet!a'
TERM. E s c.Q EN s tliot g this' man m comes oo ?'e }soriaY t ipre r ion, I~fee
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rson~'ecord ndarreston`suspicion i~ a e trus or4thinesrssarounc
expens ve tools j~ a ni an to is"tee
,. t m ght harm the co A ~, v xna i rith" hiss ja4
;~Arecordon'ourpar11' ~v~t
n
1965,
But that was six .ears ago, when she
was only 19. And you're still thinking
of her as if she ha:sn't cha'tged in all
that time!
When we overlook the "when" in our
statements, we are referring to a single
frame in a film that continues to run
and is always changing. But if we stop
to think "when" we last experienced
that person, that thing, that event., then
perhaps we will qualify our statement
with "I don't know, really-that was a
long time ago."
Perhaps we can see an example of a
"frozen attitude" in the illustration be-
low. The interviewer has judged the
applicant as if he has not changed since
a certain previous event in his life. Do
you think the interviewer's judgment
has very much to do with the applicant's
present abilities?
And how often do we find ourselves
disagreeing violently with someone,
largely because we are discussing some-
thing we saw at one time and the other
person saw at another time"
Isn't it time you started asking your-
self "when"? Don't you wish everybody
did?
38
Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
 Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2
THIS is THE BECll\ t`JING - i\,' 1 t L.
ei at the end of the road, seine
reade ?s may feel that discussing
elects o-magnetic waves, visible
spent, a, electro-chemical coding,
sync logy and loop circuitry has
little, if anything, to do with the
conve ?sation, dictation, giving or
receiv ng orders, writing notes and
letter.-, studying reports and parti-
cipating in conferences that make
up their working days.
We''d go along with that. There's
no nec d to understand the combus-
tion engine in order to drive a car,
provicing the car is working prop-
erly. And that's the point. If human
communications in everyday home
and business?liferan perfectly.
smoothly, there would be no need to
understand the mechanism. But-
most of us would agree-our daily
communications frequently are`:;
faulty. "~`
When communications "do go
awry, it is often useful to review the
process to see what went wrong.
And this we cannot do unless we
know what we mean by process.
Then, too, it may be that there are
some who feel that "communica-
tions" is something that technicians
do (line the man who fixes the tele-
phone) . Thus, they feel, communi-
cation; is someone else's job not
theirs.
Not too long ago, a leading indus-
trial firm studied the way a~ ~`typi
caI" eyecutive spends his working
hours. The resultsishowecl hat he
spent ;. about' 90 per cent,of isydayr
communicating In ari average )i(ur,
s Fv 'c
he spent butin~tes
m
9111 inutesreadg, $ ut s
talking and 21, rn1nutes$11Ste
is to belhopedththe~arriaave
spent the other six min
utes thinking,
com
(itself aform of mutiicati.on);'
but the study doesn't mention it.
A goveriment.sponsored study,
carried out bythe University of
Chica,o `and ,theDepartment of
Labor, shows that-as long ago as
1955- :t least 50 per cent of the cost
of run sing the American economy
was for coIi,rnunications.
And a lending aerospace firm ro-
cently "costed out" a major project
and found that 40 per cent of its
total cost was for communications.
We cannot pretend, in this bri4
format, to have said very much
about communications; but we have
tried to say several things we feel
may be important:
(1) The ability to communicate is
not something we are born with; we
have to learn it-often the hard way.
(2) Whenever we talk or write
about anything, what we are talking
or writing about is something that
happened inside us-not outside us.
(3) If we have difficulty under-
standing-or being, understood-it
is likely we have ignored some part
of the communications process. It is
up to us, individually, to find that
part and correct it. This is not an
easy thing to do.
Meanwhile, there is a useful little
catechism you can apply, every time
you hear or read something. Its con-
stant use can save"a lot of frustra-
tion and ease a lot of tension. It goes
like this :
(1) WHO said so? (Don't accept
"they" or "a company official" or
"someone close to the
(2) WHAT did he say? (What
someone says he "thinks" someone
else said is probably wrong; forget
it.)
(3) What did he MEA? (If you
are talking to someone directly, ask=
ing some questions may help ?If lie's
not around, then possibly what,he
meant cannot be established; burn
asking the question , you at leasf1
make it clear to 'yourself;hathe
`may. n of mean whatyoi think:.' e ".
does.)
(4) HOW does he know.? `(Is he
an expert? Was he there? What are
his sources of information?)
For us, the intensive use of this
little set of questions comes as clo;,e
to a "magic formula" as our latter-
day materialism allows. Perhaps it
will work as well for you.
I \t h : Ve put to
tFer a bibIiog
:;p! 1 of the sources
Is c,, i ; pre?aring
ILi- If you
V ant to pursuo the
s_zt;ect further,
ti=rite to The
Edito*', Kaiser
A'I. rninl!m NEWS,
r.dess giver:
} = 1,~; .1
KAISER
ALUMINUM NEWS
!:DITOR, DON FABIJN
F T`RIAL ASS; F-TA NT.
-E - S SUNDEP-EVER
ART OIRF. TOR;
B(;13 CONOVER
MOST O^ THE WORK
MARJ1 WELHAM
SECRLTARY
P BLI HED BY THE
PUBIC AFFAIRS
DEPARTMENT. KA15ER.
ALUMINUM & CHEMICAL
CORPORATION. KAISER
CENTER. OAKLAND., CAL.IFORNIA 94604
DESIGNED AND PRINTED BY
K=15FR GRAPHIT ARTS
GAU ST I "URG
,
I L I N A - TO
Af,? hn' erR - I'IS I
J x,.'i N S Its TH 2; 5 JL
G S E L L e A F _
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kAI5ER
ALUM/NUM
Approved For Release 2004/01/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780 R001500050047-2