Under the Wood

In my blog I'm going to be writing about some of the myriad ways we mis-communicate. So often things are nothing much like they first sound or appear. I hope you 'll join my musing when you have a notion to drop in.

Years ago when I was writing about fraudulent practices in medical research a friend was interested in reading my work . I thought he was being hugely supportive, but later I learned that he was deeply involved in reporting fraud in his own research project and I was reminded that things are seldom what they seem - his interest had reasons I could not see.

There is a Gaelic term for things that are obscured from view. Perhaps my fluent Gaelic speaking friend will enlighten me further but I understand there is a phrase 'Under the wood' which refers to things that are going on that are hidden by the tree canopy. A drone may hover over a wood and take pictures but there is a whole world of activity underneath which is undetectable to the lens. OK, I know high-tech equipment can observe all sorts of activity but I think you get the drift of the expression.

So in this blog I hope to explore how we often miss the mark in our attempts at communication. Our efforts at interpreting the meaning of messages tend to be somewhat random and influenced by a whole realm of things unintended by the author. I wonder how we can do better. I hope you will join me.