Failure to Communicate

Understanding humans, not just as people themselves, but as a species, is important when communicating effectively and with purpose. You may not have seen it this way before, but communication is an artful method of manipulation. We utilize words, written and spoken, and body language and our actions to provoke a certain response from other people. Understanding how and why people respond to certain circumstances and words is important during the interaction process.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for some people, many don't understand human nature or the art of manipulation. Men and women throw around words like they're a dime a million. They perform actions based on emotional whims, desecrating what our bodies and minds are capable of. They pay very little attention to what is being said and to what is being omitted. For those who know how to communicate, there are meanings and messages behind their words and their actions that probe for a desired effect.

I've become a little more aware of this when I was introduced to Mr. Hemingway.

What I wonder is when does Hemingway's theory of omission go further than intended? How much of what is interpreted in art more of a revelation of the character of the interpreter than of the story itself? I suppose this is what the Rorschach tests are for, but how are you certain that your interpretation of the patient's interpretation is more or less accurate?

Believing that you see the whole iceberg beneath the sea when you may be projecting yourself upon the material can be dangerous. It can mean the death of the art. It can mean the death of the artist. It can mean the death of millions of people if you apply this to certain ancient books.
Leaving the material vague and open to individual interpretation can also be beneficial to the artist. It allows each person to take from it something personal and very real to them, even if it's not the intended effect.

But when do you know that the hills like white elephants are really just hills with the beauty akin to white elephants and not a symbol of a distended and impregnated belly, a giant and impenetrable obstacle?

This goes back to the effect of when people lose control or feel like they are lacking in control, they find false patterns. Locating false patterns may be detrimental to particular conversations and relationships, but they speak volumes about the individual finding false patterns to those who listen.

For the sake of efficient communication, I beg that you attempt to understand the art of manipulation and the nature of humanity.