Random Questions

[Randallw]

Ok, now I can't actually see what the problem is, so admittedly I'm just leaping on the question

Why do people have assumptions of meaning other than what was said in normal conversation?

Without going into great, great detail (well greater ), I believe it is because people approach problems from different directions and despite their best efforts they do not have access to the motivation or information behind a statement and so they can make assumptions which may make sense from the statement they reply to, however the person who wrote the original may have meant something else, but no person can consider every possible interpretation of something so they fail to realise how what they said may appear.

I know I have in the past come away from something with the wrong message, and to my shame responded wrongly. With improved communication the basis of things can become clear and common agreement can develop.

One recent incident I can use as an example, and I choose this one mostly because it's the most recent I can recall, was that someone told me my roleplaying was a failure because my empire was on the verge of being defeated. I attempted to explain to this other player that on the contrary my roleplaying had been going great, but there is a difference between staying in character and winning the game. I believe he missed the point for he pointed out how my previous success was only due to such things as my neighbour quiting, thus basically giving me free colonies. So my point is, we have a conversation but I hope it is clear that we are approaching it from opposite directions. My argument was based on the fact that I am trying to have a fun game, playing the game as the race I chose would be in real life, whereas it appears to me that he can only see the problem in the form of "does my approach have a chance of emerging victorious?".

Please excuse me if I have myself missed the point and gone off on a diverging tagent. I just hope I can show how two people can disagree because they are in fact having two different conversations.

For the record, and I do hope this is apparent, I try to come across as eloquent because knowing that people can get the wrong idea I try to phrase my comments as accurately as the limitations of english, and my own ability, allow.

or it could be my OCD