by Belinda Long

Created on: July 01, 2009

Our very existence, and everything we love about our existence depends on communication. People communicate in so many different ways. We communicate through body language, words, letters, newspapers, books, magazines, email, and telephone. Communication can't be over-rated, because without it, the world as we know it would cease to exist.

Imagine a world without communication. Imagine millions of people walking around expressionless. Imagine trying to convey love to a spouse without communicating. Imagine looking at a rabid animal with no expression, no warning that it was in distress. Imagine vehicles with no horns or turn signals. No brake lights. Imagine a four way busy intersection with no stop lights or stop signs. It's absurd! Human beings need communication just as much as they need food and water.

When a newborn baby cries, he is trying to communicate that he wants food, water or love. How would that same infant thrive if he was unable to communicate his needs? Whether it is obvious communication like crying or laughing, or subtle things, like a warning glance when you child is mouthing back, without that communication, we would lose our status as human beings. We might lose our status as living things!

Obviously, when we ask if communication is over rated, we don't mean to the extreme above. However, because communication takes on so many different forms, you communicate even when you may not be aware that you are doing it. Maybe you have no expression on your face during an argument. Maybe you walk away, but you are wringing your hands in silence, conveying the emotional upheaval you may be feeling.

Communication, something as simple as wringing your hands, is what keeps us (or most of us) civilized. Maybe you communicate your love for someone and they don't return those feelings, so you feel communication is a loss. But that isn't true. If you didn't communicate in some way, you would have no boundaries. There would be no way to know when we were going to far, or not far enough. There would be no way to love and nurture our children or save ourselves from a bad relationship. Without communication, the human race would cease to exist. We wouldn't even be animals. We would be nothing.

Communication is anything but over rated. In fact, we don't put enough thought into how big a role communication plays in our day to day live, in my opinion. Without communication of some form, we would be hollow. Imagine not being able to show love, anger, hurt, frustration, or gratitude. Imagine what society would be like without those things.

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