The effect of the Area of Knowledge in Communication

        Humans are incredibly complex and advanced creatures. All though human beings appear quite intelligible, no human has perfect knowledge. Humans vary in their potential to gain knowledge, and have different intellectual abilities. Based on their specific background, an individual will have different religious, cultural, or political beliefs according to their outside influences. Therefore, even when they are speaking the same language, two people can never understand each other completely. Our ability to communicate with other human beings is affected by our background and the amount of intelligence we possess. The Area of Knowledge also affects our ability to communicate with others. This essay will discuss to what extent our knowledge of ethics, history, and human sciences affects our ability to communicate.

        One of the Areas of Knowledge is ethics; ethics dictate how we should live our lives, and distinguish what is right from what is wrong. However, different people have different views on ethics because people have different opinions on the difference between right and wrong. Someone’s ethical judgments depend on many factors, including their intellectual abilities and their background. Because of the differences among a population of people, different ethical opinions emerge. Perhaps one of the most controversial ethical dilemmas of today’s society is the right for a woman to receive an abortion. It is impossible to ever judge whether this issue is ethical or not because there are so many passionate and strong arguments both for and against abortion; neither side of the issue will ever rest. One must first take into account the root of the issue: when does a fetus become a person? It is argued that a fetus is a “potential person” because it will potentially become what it is “meant to be” once it is born. But does a “potential person” have rights even before they are born? David C. Reardon, Ph.D., explains that about seventy percent of American women believe that having an abortion is immoral, however, most women are pro-choice, and believe that the decision to have an abortion is purely the choice of each individual woman. Consider the story of an 11 year-old Romanian rape victim, who was impregnated by a 19 year-old man against her will. In her native home of Romania, this child was refused an abortion. In order to solve the situation, she was flown to the UK for her abortion after 21 weeks. It is appalling to me that someone would be permitted to have an abortion, especially under these circumstances. It is beyond me how someone could disagree. John McCain’s vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin argues that even if her own daughter were raped, “[she] would choose life”.  It is outrageous to me personally that she would consider the sperm of a rapist to be superior to the well being of her own daughter. Our opposing view points is an excellent representation of how our ability to communicate as humans is affected by the Area of Knowledge, or ethics, to be more precise. Because of our different backgrounds and influences, our ethical judgments are also completely different. Even though I speak the same language as Sarah Palin, I will never fully understand her. A conversation with Sarah Palin for many people would be a debate or an argument, therefore communicating with someone with an opposite opinion on a subject, such as abortion, would be very difficult. Clearly, ethics, as apart of the Area of Knowledge, greatly affects our ability to communicate.

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        History is a major aspect of the Area of Knowledge. History is essential in understanding our past, and our future. With our knowledge of history, we can understand the world to a greater extent. However, history is interpreted differently depending on a variety of factors, including generational differences, background differences, political differences, etc. For example, someone who grew up in the south of the United States of America during the Civil War would most likely support slavery. A better example would be Nazi “brainwashing”; the minds of millions of Germans during the 1930’s and early 1940’s had been indoctrinated with ...

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