What is "effective communication"?

I define “effective communication” as the “non-sense of majority”. Do you agree with me? If you agree, then we are sensible enough to realize that we don’t make any sense. If you disagree, then read on to understand the sensible non-sense called “effective communication”.

As per my dictionary, communication means sharing of information. To be more precise, from the transmitter’s point of view, it is what s/he wants the receiver to interpret from the symbols and/or sounds transmitted by her/him. And from the receiver’s point of view, communication is what s/he interprets from the received symbols and/or sounds. When the receiver interprets the symbols and/or sounds in the same way as the transmitter, then it is called “effective communication”. Now you may be wondering: “Like hell! Then how does it become sensible non-sense?” Right? Read on…

Taking examples, when a thump’s up symbol is given, it is interpreted as wishing good luck and when “I LOVE YOU” is written, it expresses our feeling. But may I ask you, what if the receiver is someone who doesn’t know English or doesn’t know the meaning of thump’s up symbol? For that receiver, it makes no sense!

Why is it so? Simple! Because information and hence communication are built on the platform of symbols and languages which varies from region to region and from society to society. Though languages and symbols of one place may seem to be non-sense to an outsider, these are necessary for civilization. They are a set of “non-senses” that are used by a majority of people in an area. (Am I making sense now? I think u can see where it is leading to… Right?) Thus when the majority uses non-sense for a sensible reason, it becomes “effective communication”. Now do you agree with me? If you agree, then we are not making any sense. If you disagree, then you are not making any sense!