Does The Government Lacks Competence?

North American Government has just recently considered the art of competent communication. Basic tactics in persuasion have been around for years, yet they are not being used to their fullest potential to help turn society “green”.

Green suasion or mind control? - thestar.com

The article Green Suasion or Mind Control from The Star discusses how the government is discovering simple persuasion techniques to help convince people to go “green”. Such persuasion techniques, which are clearly outlined in introductory courses to human communication, include using information that is relevant to the recipient and the use powerful points that appeal to basic human emotion. These points are discussed in more depth in Understanding Human Communication. If first year university students are mastering these tactics why are our “highly” qualified, not to mention highly paid, government representatives only thinking of this now when for years people have been punishing our planet for crimes it did not commit?

Congressman Brian Baird makes the point that “a simple changing of wording can help save billions of dollars”. In other words sending a message that recipients can relate to will help persuade them. This is a basic strategy in communications. Why is it that we are in the middle of a climate change epidemic yet it takes money not morals to cause a change in the right direction?

Janet Swim’s thinking is in the right direction as she points out, "behavioral economists make the assumption we are rational decision makers," Swim says. "I don't think they take into account other (things) – fear, hope, guilt, pride." Any first year communications student would gladly tell you that using emotional appeal is an extremely powerful persuasion technique. Oddly enough Brian Baird is attempting to allow behavioral economists to head the "social and behavioral research program" at the U.S. Department of Energy. Ask yourself if that is a logical decision?

If we plan on pulling Earth out of the ugly car crash it is heading towards with pollution, global warming and many other ugly truths communication competence cannot be over looked.

Science on man-made climate change can be found below…

Do You Have What It Takes To Be Competent?

Grunts, groans, sighs, beautiful speeches and drunken slurs may all be forms of competent communication. Every situation is different and calls for a different type of communication style in order to be successful. Every person has the ability to improve as a competent communicator.

A competent communication, as stated in the book Understanding Human Communication in Chapter 1, “involves achieving one’s goals in a manner that, ideally maintains or enhances the relationship in which it occurs.” My interpretation of competent communication is that it involves a certain level of skill to adapt to the wide varieties of situations you account in everyday living in order to effectively live.

Communication competence also plays a large role in daily living. If you could not communicate to your family your feelings or deal with an upset friend, what kind of turmoil would exist in your life? Competent communication is very important for being able to function in society. For example, walking through the mall and being approached by a salesperson at a kiosk. The salesperson is trying to persuade you to purchase their merchandise. In this situation the salesperson must be competent in order to adapt their sales pitch to a unique individual. Also they must sound competent to be a credible communicator or else you will be turned off from buying the product. You, as the possible customer, must prevent yourself from being persuaded by a salesperson and think critically as an individual.

http://changingminds.org/

There are multiple strategies to prevent people from being persuaded. The “Changing Minds” website lists multiple strategies to prevent other people’s power of persuasion. These strategies vary widely from attacking the individual to simply saying no. At first glance verbal aggression or stonewalling the individual may seem ridiculous, and not something a competent communicator would do. On this note take a second to think about the wide variety of people and situations you may find yourself in. The more strategies you can draw from and adapt to meet your needs in that situation will help you to be a more skillful competent communicator.

Below is a video of Barack Obama using his competent communication skills in a persuasive speech.

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Meanings are in People not in words

Sheldon Rampton of CMD (Center for Media and Democracy) emphasizes how the negative connotations associated with sewage sludge prevented its proper disposal. Sludge, typically a solid matter, is produced by water and sewage treatment. In an attempt to dispose of the sludge, sewage has been dumped into oceans, resulting in serious ramifications. Authorities have since then attempted to use sludge as a fertilizer for crops. However, to their dismay, farmers were less than excited to cover their crops in a healthy layer of sewage sludge. In this particular situation, the issue was not in the material of the sludge, but the meaning that accompanied the word.

“In this era of exploding media technologies, there is no truth except the truth you create yourself,” stated Richard Edelman at Edelman World Wide. This suggests that any object or idea can be given a symbolic label.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4XT-l-_3y0)

This is directly related to the idea in Understanding Human Communications. The book reads, “Meaning is not in words themselves but rather in the way people understand them” (Sevigny, Rodman, Adler 85).

A word absorbs connotations that people associate with it over time. For example, the word mankind once represented the entire human race. Through changing times, the term mankind is now seen as politically incorrect and sexist, and the word "humanity" should be used in it's place. Similarly, the word “sludge” is associated with an unpleasant, disgusting form of waste and the thought of fertilizing crops with it is revolting. Meanwhile, animal fecal matter is used to do the same thing.

People of the Water Environment Federation created a “Name Change Task Force” in charge of determining a swift and orderly name change. Their hope was to burry the negative connotations associated with “sludge” and replace them with the freshly welded word, "biosolid".

Eventually, with enough use by the Water Treatment Industry, the word “biosolid” was printed in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as planned. “I’m pleased that the term "sludge" will not appear in the definition of biosolids. In waste water industry it is not politically correct to use the term sludge any longer” stated Pete Machro, National Biosolids Partnership. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biosolid

However, a word is not part of language until it is accepted and associated with a meaning by a mainstream group. For the word "biosolid", this didn’t occur until 2002, twelve years after "biosolid" was published in a dictionary. The majority of biosolids were finally being applied to agricultural lands that had refused to be fertilized by sludge twelve years prior.

http://southeastfarmpress.com/grains/fertilizer-alternatives-0604/

This illustrates the power of interpretation that people put into words and language. People can be controlled by manipulating the way by which they view certain words. This is a powerful tool that can, and often has been misused. This is but one of the multiple examples that Sheldon Rampton uncovers many similar stories through CMD. Below is Sheldon Rampton’s blog and the presentation where he speaks about the introduction of biosolids.

http://www.prwatch.org/blog/1

Communication is the mold that forms the reality of tomorrow.

Changes in communication frame the future of human civilization. As explained by Minerva’s Owl, changes in modes of communication send a shock wave through humanity. Thus forcing society to collapse and re-emerge from the ruins. Held within the heart of change are the values and social functions of society. In the words of Harrold Innis , "the effect of the discovery of printing was evident in the savage religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries" (Innis 12).

Communication is so strongly linked with change that it's definition on wikipedia.org uses the word "change" ten times throughout the page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication

The world is in the process of a huge technological advancement, recreating communication. Large scale changes are expected to occur in this time of reorganization. As they have been seen in the past, "application of power to communication industries hastened the consolidation of vernaculars, the rise of nationalism, the revolution, and outbreak of savagery in the twentieth century" (Innis 12). Changes in behaviour can be found in the wake of this evolution.

Communication is and has been adapting through technology. The Economist Magazine suggests mobile devices are soon to be the new personal computer and main source of communication. The iPhone is taking communication and information technology to a new level. The following commercial demonstrates the extent to which communication tools have advanced. The video pushes the limits of personal morals and privacy. How is this going to remodel society?

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k3zvI2tyPM)

Before the iPhone proposed such issues, there was the creation of the Internet. Once invented to enhance communication, the Internet detonated a bomb destroying the film and music industry. The majority of this media is now downloaded for free. Today twisted values now allow theft to be a common occurrence. How will tomorrow be affected by the new values given life by communication?

The rubble that was once societies foundation is being rebuilt by the ideas of a technological minority. A butterfly effect is in the process of spawning a new era, allowing media, technology, economy and government to be revamped. The video developed by XPLANE in association with the Economist Magazine shows how communication and technology are further changing humanity. Are you prepared for what the future has to come?

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUY9ahSCMG0)

Written by Brad Boake

Hello World

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