Happy Solstice! from Babylon

The game of Pictionary should be taught in all schools worldwide. It would greatly improve human communications. Far too many people have inadequate skills for non-verbal communication, and non-language communication... as when two people speak different languages.

I have found that the majority of people I've encountered in Central America are excellent at non-language communication or little-language communication. They seem to enjoy it as much as I do, have the same good-natured sense of humor about it, and derive the same sense of satisfaction when success is achieved. They are creative about their approach which is usually key. Attitude seems significant for success. I also found, unsurprisingly, that the people in the tourist areas are better at it and tend to be more cheerful about it.

However, I have also encountered some impatience and annoyance, perhaps born of lack of creativity or humor with the process. I've had more than one person repeat the same few words over and over, with increasingly exaggerated slowness and increasing volume, as if they were sure my problem was stupidity or deafness or both – even when they knew perfectly well that the real problem was simply that I did not speak Spanish. Rather than try to find a creative way to express their message – gestures, writing, metaphor – and rising to the challenge, they simply got frustrated.

Of course, I am well aware that these folks probably deal all the time with tourists like me and that learning at least a few words and phrases of the native language is basic courtesy when visiting – one that I neglected due to time and craziness but that's no excuse. I'm not saying I expect these folks to speak English or to be under any obligation to deal with someone who doesn't speak it. But nor do I adopt the attitude that they should be. This is simply observation.

Also, there is not a direct correlation between my experience and the Pictionary theory. The former just made me think a bit and spawned the idea about the latter.

For those of you unfamiliar with Pictionary, it is a group / team game involving cards printed with words or short phrases that must be conveyed, within a short time limit, to the other players via drawing only – no words or sign language or gestures (though some gestures inevitably happen in the excitement and heat of the game).

Pictionary offers a fascinating insight into how player's brains work. Which aspect of the picture the drawer chooses to tackle first; whether they choose to draw the actual object or action, or phoenetic alternates, or symbolic representations (no actual symbols allowed except a few select ones such as =m or -); and what sort of associations their minds make. For example, a player might choose to convey the phrase “solar power” by drawing a sun, and an arm with flexed bicep. Or, they might draw a sun and a flower, hoping that when people run the phrase “sun flower” through their brain and realize that it's not “sunflower,” they might make the connection – this option might be helped along by drawing an ear next to the flower indicating that it's a word that sounds like flower, or by adding a picture of a shower nozzle with water spraying out. Or, they might draw a solar panel, perhaps aided with an electrical plug or outlet. Or...

After the others guess correctly, or the time is up and the answer is revealed, there is typically a moment of sharing thought processes from both sides: "I was trying to get this across," or," I kept thinking you were trying to draw a..."

It's also amazing how rapidly the other players can correctly guess what the drawer is attempting, much of the time. This often takes on a nearly psychic quality and possibly indicates a similarity of thought process (“that's exactly what I would have drawn”). Interestingly, looking back over Pictionary sheets from months back it's often much harder to guess what the drawings represent. Without the “live” element something is lost in translation... so to speak.

The game provides positive reinforcement for both effective graphic representation and good interpretation skills, so the more someone plays, the better they tend to get. It's easy to imagine that someone who has played a lot of Pictionary would exhibit significant improvement at non-language communication in general – supported not only by practice, but by lessened intimidation and a greater enjoyment of the process as well.

As I said, my experience was merely the catalyst for the theory.

Comments?