# The Illusion of Interpretative Control By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-03-20 One cannot control the audience's frame of mind when communicating. There are ways of attempting to align everyone, but it's not foolproof and universal. Some approaches include making everyone put their phones away, having people get out of their seats and do some targeted icebreakers, and requiring people to sign pledges to be fully present with consequences if they fail to comply. However, these approaches only treat the symptom rather than the problem. People will always have unique starting positions, frames of mind, or hang-ups. Essentially, one confuses focus and attention with intention, experience, and daily living. No amount of focus trickery is going to stop a parent from worrying about their sick child. Their ill child will cloud everything they do, and it is a mark on our society that we think one can and should put away who they are for work. Even so-called enlightened workplaces need to pay more attention to how they believe work should be executed. We merely wear masks to disguise our true identity and pretend to be something we are not. These masks are required to form a society, but it does not mean we cannot acknowledge that we only wear them to play our part in the social contract. You will read this post from your unique perspective and frame of mind, which is a composite of everything that you are now - and it will change. You will interpret it differently from my intentions, and I'm very happy to oblige. It is who you are, not as an individual but as a 'dividual.' #### Related Items [[Communication]] [[Society]] [[Identity]] [[Perspective]] [[The Human Condition]] [[Intention]]