Over the last two weeks I was able to observe cross-cultural communication without moving more than few km from my place.
And I will never cease to be surprised at one of the few absolutes that still linger inside the mind of even the most open-minded people.
Language.
When we communicate, we do not just listen- our brain tries to anticipate, by using the patterns that we know.
With a foreign interlocutor, the risk is that our brain “puts the coach in front of the horses”- and infers a conclusion where none if forthcoming.
Our natural instinct to predict becomes a damage to our effective communication.