Let's talk. Do you wanna talk?

Plains are the safest public transports on the planet but when they crash, it tends to be tragic and we have to look for the cause of the accident. Now, most of the times causes like ‘ran out of fuel’ or ‘engines broke’ are listed, even though the real reason is much simpler than that: communication. Reading the chapter ‘The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes’, made me realize how complex our communications are and how they can be a question of life or death. I often think that if we were better at communicating, we would avoid so many problems in our lives: misunderstanding, fights, secrets, hurt feelings. And it goes on and on and on. Until we come to the plane crashes, and we realize that we might have to ameliorate our talking skills. It drives me mad really, to hear that 250 people could die just because the pilot and his first commander didn’t communicate in an efficient matter. Who are we not to speak up when we’re supposed to? How can we keep secrets that lead to misunderstandings which lead to hurt feelings? Leaving the plane crashes aside, communication used to be much simpler a few dozen of years ago. My grandmother often tells me about those times where phones and internet as we know it didn’t exist. Ignoring the fact that boys used to bring a girl home after they went on a date (not sure if communication is the sole reason for that), misleading conversations and false information was avoided by the phenomena called talking. Internet couldn’t show them any upsetting gossip on Facebook, and life in general just seemed to be simpler (excluding the fact that most of the countries were destroyed from the war and had to regain their pride and wealth).  When you don’t give it a thought, talking seems like the simplest thing out there. Talking to someone about something specific on the other hand causes difficulties in some situations. I feel like nowadays we don’t even know how to talk, we feel awkward even though there’s nothing to feel awkward about! The first commander who didn’t speak up to his boss because he didn’t dare question the pilot’s commands: what a waste of awkwardness (and of human lives as we find out reading on). When brought up, knowledge issues confuse my perception of the world as well as me. I do comprehend now, that I can’t judge any pilot for lacking a clear sense of communication because I for myself don’t know what that means. Society might be the questioned factor here, but who are we to blame it on our surroundings when we’re the only ones who can make a difference for ourselves.