Interpersonal Communication - Essay Example

27th June Interpersonal communication: Literal listening is such type of listeningin which special stress is laid by the listener on the words being heard rather than dwelling unnecessarily on the feeling or emotion behind the words. This is an effective type of listening since it saves the listener from jumping to the worst conclusions by making wrong assumptions about the intention of the other person who speaks about something or pays some compliment. Many times, pointless pain can be escaped by literally listening to the other person and laying stress only on the content of the message rather than focusing at length on the background of the message conveyed.

Efforts should be taken by a person to resist the habit of making his/her own interpretations, which may be excessively wild or painful at times, about any ordinary message, compliment, or note conveyed. Our fake interpretations lead to disastrous misconceptions and chaotic mayhem, to avoid which literal listening is a very reliable tool for making interpersonal communication smooth. In the video “Acceptable Forms of Shit”, Ms. Choksondik explains to the children how saying the word “shit” is quite acceptable under some conditions and how it should not be considered a taboo word in the educational systems if used in a non-literal sense while respecting some conditions.

The teacher in the video lays stress that the word “shit” should be used in a non-literal sense, while taking care to avoid using it in a literal sense like “this is a picture of shit”, which is not acceptable. In an order to avoid any offense that may force some to believe that literal listening is not effective, such words as “shit” must be used non-literally like “this is a shitty picture of mine.” Ego boundaries are actually formed by a person’s own perceptions regarding where his/her existence ends and the rest of the world begins.

Some people maintain such vast ego boundaries that they never become able to see the rest of the world because they only see themselves and their achievements everywhere. In the video “How Do You Live With Yourself”, Cartman explains to Kayne West how he came up with the joke in such a way which makes us realize how minimal or vast ego boundaries play major role in influencing the type of communication going on between two persons. In an order to avoid conflict-based pandemonium, ego boundaries should be maintained in such a way that they do not become a hurdle in understanding what other is trying to convey.

Conflicts in interpersonal communication arise many times just because one person’s ego is so high that he/she refuses to listen or agree to what other person has to say, because he/she fervently tries to maintain his/her egotistical personality status. In the video, Cartman’s egotistical friend tells him how he can take credit of the joke when he has not written it. Actually, Cartman had written the joke but his friend was too egotistical to let his friend take any credit for it. The vast ego boundaries of Cartman’s friend become a source of conflict between him and Cartman.

In the end of the video, Cartman realizes that what actually caused conflict between him and his friend were the ego boundaries of his friend which did not let him, see Cartman take credit for the joke. According to Cartman in the video, some people have such huge egos that “they won’t accept the truth of who they are.” Works cited: “Acceptable Forms of Shit.” South park studios. 2011. Film. 27 Jun. 2011. “How Do You Live With Yourself?” South park studios. 2011. Film. 27 Jun. 2011.