Speaking: a wealth in extinction

The ability to communicate is one of the things that made humans evolve more than other breeds. Both oral and written communications were key for the humanity to get to the point we are now. Writing is by far one of the most important inventions of the human civilizations. The choice between speaking and writing on behalf of the final purpose however has been confusing.

There was a time when each had its applicability and were properly distinguishable. Last decades however, the advent of technology has raised the use of written communication over the oral one to a point where people do not know how to differentiate the applicability of each and, worst, not realizing how bad this can be.

My generation (millennials) and the previous ones have dealt with this turning point, since we were born when oral communication was more common than written communication. New generations (post-millennials) on the other hand have been born in a world where written communication is already the most common one. Joking aside, children are almost learning to read before speaking.

At first this does not seem a major problem, but it creates a lot of misunderstanding on the interpretation of the messages being communicated. Children are usually much sharper than their parents to capture written texts and its hidden words whereas adults lose lot of time trying to interpret and making guesses until the point we call the sender to clarify or go for a face to face, recurring to oral communication. Several interpretation issues raise when they talk/write one another.

The point is not that we should stop writing, start speaking or the other way around, but rather giving each of them its importance and right use. The advance of written communication has surely solved a lot of problems, as the chance of revision before delivering the message (as I have done here) or the possibility to document and formalize stuff, tracking history and so on. However, the success of the written communication demands literacy knowledge to avoid misunderstanding.

Verbal communication also requires listening ability of course. After all, the message is not on the mouth of the sender but in the ears of the receiver. However, the feedback is immediate since there is simultaneous transmission and receipt of the message. Indeed, in the case of ftf conversations, nonverbal cues, e.g. body language, interjections, contribute for the clearance of the messages being changed.

Another important aspect is the human contact. We may not realize the impacts of replacing or mixing speaking with writing through our lives but there certainly is. Loneliness stems from a lack of both physical and social interaction that can lead to cognitive decline, depression and sleep issues.

We may not realize how fast this is happening also and how to overcome it, but I use to say that one of the things that will differentiate people in the future is the ability to speak. If I had to choose today a wealth to keep or improve for the future, speaking would be my first pick. And I would probably be sending these messages thru podcasts instead.