By Jerry Riley

Easy answer, no; thought provoking question though. How often do we think others know the same things we know? Does this assumption make communication more difficult than it has to be? The two mistakes you can make are assuming they do or assuming they don’t.

If you make the assumption that whoever you are talking to knows what you know, you may giving information that they will be unable to accept.
Sometimes we have to start an explanation with the most basic information, if only to make sure everyone has the same groundwork, but YOU have to tell someone if they are talking down to you. Many service people use the most basic terms in order to communicate with everyone.
If you have more than basic knowledge, but do not tell them, they will not know, so you cannot blame them for talking down to you.
On the other hand, some people use technical jargon in communicating with people who have no idea what they are saying, so the conversation wastes everyone’s time and, what a revoltin’ development this is!
During my recent experience with actual cooking, I would have lost a lot of good information if people had assumed I knew what I was doing. People who are experienced cooks gave me useful advice and directions.
This also applies to our law enforcement personnel. Our police officers can not be every place or see everything. If you see or hear something suspicious, or just something that just doesn’t look right to you, contact your local police. At least you can make them aware of your concern.

Jerry Riley is an occasional commentator for the News Bulletin. He is a retired telecommunications supervisor.