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Why we talk
How much is communication of information the main purpose of speech? I can think of other reasons to speak:
1. We talk to signal loyalty, or disloyalty.
2. We talk to bond with others.
3. We talk because we are not very self-aware and we need an audience if we are to learn our own thoughts or make up our minds. Clark Durant points to Hamlet.
4. We talk so people may judge us, leading to efficient sorting.
5. We talk to see who will leave the room.
6. We talk because we are restless, nervous, or bored. Speech may relieve anxiety, or give the pretense of doing so.
Of course it depends on context, but I'll put information communication at no more than fifteen percent of our chatter.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on October 28, 2006 at 06:25 AM in Science | Permalink
Comments
Are you thinking of "we" as he or she?
Posted by: dearieme at Oct 28, 2006 6:58:31 AM
'She' would likely talk for numbers 3 and 6
'He' would likely talk for number 1, and for information.
Yes you can tell I'm a guy.
Posted by: smithy at Oct 28, 2006 8:25:26 AM
I heard Steven Pinker talk about this very issue during an episode of Discovery's, "Evolution". I think Pinker put the percentage around 30%, but I could easily be mistaken. I know he addresses this issue though.
Posted by: Michael Stack at Oct 28, 2006 9:29:35 AM
Of course you may be defining "information communication" somewhat narrowly. Many of the purposes you list above do in fact communicate a great deal of information.
Posted by: David Sucher at Oct 28, 2006 10:01:44 AM
I second David Sucher's comment. (Didn't he play Hercule Poirot on TV?) Consider Erving Goffman's distinction between the messages we intend to "give" (through explicit meanings) and those we intend to "give off" (through non-explicit meanings).
Posted by: Guest15 at Oct 28, 2006 11:22:10 AM
1 and 4 are communication of information. I don't know if I'd be as hard on the ladies as Smithy, but there's no question that males default to functional communication and females default to social communication, though both can do either depending on the context. Just as it took me awhile to learn to shut up and listen as my wife blew off steam, it took her awhile to learn that the answer to "how much did that purse cost?" is a number, not a 3000 word description of a shopping trip.
Posted by: J at Oct 28, 2006 11:28:03 AM
A great list (that could be edited to read "Why We Blog" as well). One point I'd add is that Mises deals with this topic, albeit in more general terms, in Human Action (chapter 4).
The result sought by an action is called its end, goal, or aim. One uses these terms in ordinary speech also to signify intermediate ends, goals, or aims; these are points which acting man wants to attain only because he believes that he will reach his ultimate end, goal or aim in passing beyond them. Strictly speaking the end, goal, or aim of any action is always the relief from a felt uneasiness.
Posted by: chris at Oct 28, 2006 12:15:52 PM
It's worth noting that even when people are dead-set on a simple transmission of information, the 'information rate' of human speech is fairly low. Claude Shannon found that simple statistical methods can serve both to predict speech (at the level of phonemes or higher) and to compress it through encoding.
The chief explanation for this, in Shannon's theoretical lens, was that the redundancy/predictability in speech enables us to reconstruct imperfectly heard messages (we communicate with an 'error-correcting code'). But this need not be the end of the story.
Posted by: Andy D at Oct 28, 2006 2:17:58 PM
When in the Alaskan bush, we talk to keep grizzly bears away.
Posted by: Steve Sailer at Oct 28, 2006 4:22:50 PM
I find that in many conversations, people criticize others and end up by reassuring each other that they are alright, relatively moral and what not. As Dunbar says, a considerable percentage of conversations may be like grooming among monkeys.
Posted by: gaddeswarup at Oct 28, 2006 4:29:03 PM
You left out an important reason, or wraped it in a touchy feely context in 3. When trying to solve a complex problem, explaining it to someone and answering questions clarifies your thinking. This is one reasons researchers are more productive when working in teams.
Posted by: joan at Oct 28, 2006 5:07:20 PM
Much information is communicated non-verbally, with body language and facial expressions.
Tho rarely in blogs and comments.
Posted by: bob mcmanus at Oct 28, 2006 5:40:58 PM
Gentleman: [speaking of Ophelia]
She speaks much of her father; says she hears
There’s tricks i’ th’ world; and hems, and beats her heart;
Spurns enviously at straws, speaks things in doubt
That carry but half sense. Her speech is nothing,
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move
The hearers to collection. They aim at it,
And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts;
Which, as her winks and nods and gestures yield them
Indeed would make one think there might be thought,
Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily.
—William Shakespeare
Hamlet 4-1:4
Posted by: Shakespeare's Fool at Oct 28, 2006 6:01:55 PM
I should add that the list is a good one, though I think that #4 could be offered a little more bluntly as something like "We talk to establish our hierarchical supremacy." If there isn't then there should be a quip to parallel 'the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton' --- 'the English empire was built on the long vowel and the clipped consonant.' (And sorry guv'nah if I am not characterizing the Oxbridge accent correctly.)
(Btw, Guest 15, actually I have only been playing myself. And alas, never on TV.)
Posted by: David Sucher at Oct 28, 2006 6:18:02 PM
You forgot at least one, talking to effect action.
Posted by: BillWallace at Oct 28, 2006 9:24:29 PM
Timothy Leary said most human speech boils down to "I'm still here. Are you still there?"
Posted by: Surabaya Johnny at Oct 28, 2006 10:42:16 PM
I agree that on main point is that we talk to effect action. Almost every word out of our mouth has a reason behind it for and action we desire. Many of the other reasons we talk are very true. However the underlying reasons for our verbal communication is to gain a response. This is not just limited to verbal responses but also physical communication. Communication is not justlimited to talking but to many other factors such as facial tone, how you carry yourself, etc.
Posted by: Malcolm at Oct 28, 2006 11:53:01 PM
The best reason to speak is to lift up your listeners. Kind words are powerful and can change a conversation, a day, a lifetime, and a world.
Posted by: Trey Tomeny at Oct 29, 2006 3:42:45 AM
Some people just love words. They read as much as possible, they like to listen to speakers who are gifted orators, they write for fun regardless of whether or not it will be published, and they will talk your ear off if given the chance, but not necessarily "just to be heard."
They would rather inter into discourse than just speak, and once they realize that their listener will not be interjecting anything, they will break off the conversation and seek out a more worthy listener or even opponent.
Posted by: Ray G. at Oct 29, 2006 11:07:11 AM
Talking is a way of life. We must talk to express to others our feelings
or relieve stress. Communcation is a big part of life and without it we
would be lost.
Posted by: Jessica at Oct 29, 2006 2:19:11 PM
we talk to entertain...sometimes others, and always ourselves.
Posted by: rod at Oct 29, 2006 8:02:58 PM
When I travel to a country where I don't speak the language (or anything close to it), I miss the ability to share a laugh with anybody, which I guess is some combination of #2 and #4.
I'd also like to know what people who have lost the ability to speak believe they are missing.
Posted by: Dana at Oct 30, 2006 10:26:46 AM
Just imagine your life without communication. It would be dull,meaningless, and just plain boring. Making Facial expressions is even a way of communication. If no one could speak or interact then our life would be pointless. The way that we communicate reflects our personality and makes us feel like a person. We tell people our opinions, we have certain accents that show a background of where we are from. Communication is very important. There are many more reasons other than the 6 reasons mentioned on why we talk.
Posted by: Kendra at Oct 30, 2006 11:09:40 AM
An economist *would* try to analyze "talking" as an efficient or inefficient mode of communication between people in order to increase the "efficiency of information transfer" (narrowly defined, I agree). A biologist would say that all primates are primarily social animals and that interactions in the social setting (including many aspects: verbal and nonverbal communication, physical contact, etc) are an essential part of their general well-being. Primates who are deprived of or lack social interactions are at the least psychologically stressed, and in some cases it is a lethal effect. Perhaps some primates may wish that this social interaction had lower value/cost (or higher efficiency)?
Posted by: AFemaleBrain at Oct 30, 2006 2:51:23 PM
Another reason is to have someone else to help you remember the important things - sort of like backing up data to an external drive. Whenever I've spent long periods in relative solitude, my memory went to hell.
Posted by: Brian at Oct 30, 2006 11:35:22 PM
