Have you ever wondered why your communication failed? Why people did not “get” the message? Why your “information” was not received? The struggle for pleasure concept provides a new insight how to avoid frustration and build productive communication.
If we want to get a better grip on communication we need to understand how people process information? One thing is for sure; the human brain does not process information as a computer does. It can and will not store raw data.
By looking at our brain structure we know every neuron in our brain is connected to other neurons. This connection is called synapse and in average every neuron has 10’000 synapses. No wonder Neuroscientists estimate we have 320’000 Km cabling in our brain.
When we need to process information, this concept of association applies. This means we can only add additional information as long as the new information is associated with information already available in our brain.
The information theory can help us understand this in a very simple way. When we consider the degree of information in a message, we have on the one end 0% of new information or pure redundancy and at the other end 100% of information.
Pure redundancy leads to unbeatable annoyance and pure information to paralysis of the brain, as we are not able to process pure information. Communication to be effective needs to provide the optimal mix between redundancy (what receiver already knows) and the new information.
This zone I call the struggle for pleasure. Productive communication means knowing how to mix new information within a comfort zone provided by redundant information. So when you want to be efficient in your communication you should not only think about the information you want to transmit but also select with care the redundant information you will use to make sure your information is well received.
To your success!
