Misunderstandings: False Beliefs in Communication - cover image

Misunderstandings: False Beliefs in Communication

What do we expect when we say something to someone, and what do they expect when they hear it? When is a conversation successful? The book considers a wide set of two-person conversations, and a bit of game theory, to show how conversational statements and their interpretations are governed by beliefs. Thinking about beliefs is suitable for communication analysis because beliefs are well-defined and measurable, allowing to differentiate between successful understandings and their less successful counterparts: misunderstandings.

The book describes the theoretical framework and empirical measurements of misunderstandings – written by an economist, but in simple words and using interdisciplinary concepts. The material will benefit students and researchers of behavioural economics and its neighbouring fields, and anyone interested in human language.

What do we expect when we say something to someone, and what do they expect when they hear it? When is a conversation successful? The book considers a wide set of two-person conversations, and a bit of game theory, to show how conversational statements and their interpretations are governed by beliefs. Thinking about beliefs is suitable for communication analysis because beliefs are well-defined and measurable, allowing to differentiate between successful understandings and their less successful counterparts: misunderstandings.

False Beliefs in Communication

Misunderstandings

The most Zen part of economics has to do with how people form beliefs about the beliefs of others. Georg Weizsäcker is a Zen master at explaining the origins of misunderstandings, particularly those  arising from false beliefs about the beliefs of others.

Being social animals, humans spend a  lot of their time communicating. Such communication is supposed to be efficiency enhancing because it allows people to coordinate their activities. But what if such communications fail? What if people do not come to a reasonable meeting of the minds? What if communication becomes miscommunication or misunderstanding? Then bad things can happen. This wonderful book by George Weizsacker explorers the process of communication, miscommunication and the web of beliefs that explain both. It is a beautifully written and clever book which motivates the analysis by a set of three conversations that are used to pose a set of 18 questions about how conversations may go astray that are answered in the ensuing chapters. Along the way each chapter illustrates its concerns with a simple experimental result taken from the literature in experimental and behavioral economics. The result of all of this is a wonderfully alive book, brimming with great questions and interesting answers. Being  very accessible the book can be enjoyed by both the intelligent layman and the trained social scientist.  I had a hard time putting it down and could not recommend it more strongly.

We depend on conversations to persuade, inform, and command others, but communication failures are widespread.  Georg Weizsaecker's book combines insights from experimental economics, linguists, psychology, and behavioral game theory to identify what causes misunderstandings and how to avoid them.  Accessible, engaging, and rigorous, the book is a valuable resource for linguistics looking for an introduction to an economic approach to communication and to game theorists interested in a novel application of theory.

Misunderstandings, the basis of many evils, are of interest to academics and non-academics alike. The author, a leading expert in behavioral economics, offers many revealing and surprising insights stemming from his expertise, which are of interest to us all. The book is a masterly combination of profundity and lucidity.

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Misunderstandings

False Beliefs in Communication

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Georg Weizsäcker