Cooperative principle/ quote of the day

"Sociolinguist H. P. Grice suggested that the cooperative principle underlies most attempts to communicate.18 By this he meant that we typically assume that people are trying to be cooperative-by making themselves understood-even when it's quite difficult to figure out what they mean. He suggests that when someone isn't clear, we still search for a meaning that would make sense. This is why communication can work even when, on the surface, it may seem irrelevant or incomplete. So, for example, if someone asks you if you support a proposal and you reply, "Is the Pope Catholic?" most of us will know that you mean "Yes, I do support it." Even though your reply is seemingly irrelevant, we search for a meaning that makes sense given our assumption that you're trying to be cooperative."


Book: Cheney, George; Christensen, Lars Thoger; Zorn, Jr, Theodore & Ganesh Shiv. 2011, Organizational communication in an age of globalization: issues, reflections, practices.