Given that I'm in a department of "communication studies," it should come as no surprise that people who take our courses--indeed, even people who teach our courses--will claim that communication ("good" communication, presumably) can solve the world's problems. Sounds nice. I wish it were that simple.
As I see it, on a good day, when two or more people have the same level of communication skill and the same motivation to succeed, communication can do the magical things it claims to do. I guess we call those "win-win" games. Unfortunately, the world is full of people who either see themselves as losers, and/or want badly for you to be a loser. In these situations, communication becomes weird, competitive, emotional, irrational, strategic, and dysfunctional. Like any other tool, communication works best when people who really know their craft and who really care about the process and the product are at work.
In addition, communication is not the answer to all of our problems anyway--even when it's done well. Sometimes a whole big pile of money will beat a whole big pile of communication. Certainly in our household, a few more (read: 40 or 50 thousand more) bucks would put everyone at ease and eliminate much of the tension and bickering. Sometimes the absence of a major calamity (e.g., tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, etc.) will do much to keep the mood cheery; on the other hand, there's nothing as stressful--personally and interpersonally--as trying to cope with Mother Nature when she is really pissed.
In the end, communication is one potentially important piece of the puzzle, and I really do believe there's a whole lotta hurtin' out there because people have difficulty communicating effectively. But to resurrect an old 10th grade vocabulary word: communication ain't no PANACEA.
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