Moral Oral

        Even as I read the text from chapter 1 this week a couple of names immediately popped into my head as the universe’s way of disproving theories that tout absolutes. One example of a great orator that was not morally good that immediately sprung to mind was Adolf Hitler. As a speaker he, or his speech writer, was a master of the use of the five cannons of rhetoric. Enough so that he was able to take a country that had recently been decimated in the first World War, and convince its people to rise from the ashes of that defeat, and become a world power again in a mere 21 years. In that short period of time he was also able to convince millions of people to commit atrocious acts.

        A better examination of history would show that great speakers have incited people to commit acts that we consider as morally evil for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. That is not to say, however, that the Greek assumption that one must be morally good to be an orator is wrong. Hitler “believed” that he was morally just to do the things he did. One could argue that many, if not all, of the dictators of the past and present felt morally justified in leading their peoples the way they did.

        The connection between goodness, truth, and public communication is only in the eye of the beholder. If the speaker can convince his audience that he believes something is good and true, then that can open the door for the audience to accept his beliefs as good and true.

Introduction

For purposes of this course I am The Answer is: 42. For those of you familiar with the work of Douglas Adams you’ll understand the reference. I am a former Marine who was born and raised in Hawaii. After ending my military career I moved to the Sacramento area where I have spent the last 9 years as a field service technician. I live in Antelope with my wife, two Siberian huskies, and three cats. I have been going to school at Sierra College trying to get my computer science degree for the past three years.

I have always been fascinated by the way people interact and communicate with each other, whether by verbal or non-verbal cues. In high school, I participated in speech and was on the debate team. I have been really lucky in that the way we communicate has evolved so much during my lifetime. From face to face conversations, to a bias towards the phone (both land line and mobile) to the extensive use of e-mail, instant messages and text messages. While this will be my first formal class communication studies since high school, I pride myself on being able to clearly and effectively communicate using many different methods.

                My main goal for this class is to become a better evaluator of the way others communicate. While it’s important that I communicate in ways that ensure that my message isn’t misunderstood, I also want to be able to make sure that I am not misunderstanding the message that others are giving to me. I hope that after this class I will be better able to understand cultural differences in the way people speak as well as be able to more effectively understand and use communication techniques myself.