For much of human history we got by just fine thinking the earth was flat, even though it was
always round. And even with our 21st century sophistication where we know the earth is
round, most of us can actually get by with flat earth assumptions much of the time.
But what about when things get more complex? If you want to put a satellite into space or take
a transcontinental flight, flat earth assumptions aren’t going to be very helpful. Remember in
elementary school when you compared a globe to a map and realized, for example, that it’s
quicker to fly from New York to Moscow by flying over the North Pole instead of across the
Atlantic? What seems counter‐intuitive from a flat earth perspective actually makes perfect
sense from a round earth perspective.
The same is true with communication. We can get by with “flat earth” assumptions about
communication for much of what we want to do throughout our day. Much of our
communication involves sending and receiving relatively unproblematic messages and acting on
that information: giving directions, planning our schedules, requesting information, and so on.
And the conventional, informational approach towards communication works just fine in these
situations. But other times things are more complex.