I presuppose that I always communicate. Some of that is overt communication – like auditory speech and body language. Some is covert – like hidden agendas and motives.
Living beings communicate in symbols that represent ideas. Those covert symbolic representations may not be shared or understood between any one or more communicators. Because of that miscommunication, misunderstanding is common.
Every form of life communicates. In its actions and very being, each is itself a symbolic representation – a metaphor. That metaphor communicates validation of existence. Conscious awareness acknowledges existence of one compared to another. For example, I acknowledge my existence in comparison to all that is not me. Thus, this determines benefit or threat to myself.
How We Communicate in Metaphor
Comparing and determining benefit or threat allows me to know how to interact with my environment.
In every metaphor there is an explicit story with an implicit meaning. Metaphor provides opportunity for alternative meanings, comprehension, and value. Like the dollar bill that has virtually no value in and of itself – it’s just a piece of paper! That is, until two or more agree on a value for it in trade. So, that’s a metaphor – the foundation of overt and covert communication.
Dollar bill: Overt – a piece of paper. Covert – its agreed upon value in trade. Thus, application of meaning turns explicit into implicit – through symbolism.
Let’s look at the instinct to live. Avoidance of ending life produces an emotion, fear, that motivates certain behaviors. Thus, an overt behavior connects to a covert emotion. One might look at the overt behavior and comprehend the connection – only IF they presuppose the metaphor.
In many cases, the connection between overt and covert uses the word, “because…” For example, “I raised my voice because… I felt threatened.” The raised voice is a metaphor for how I felt. You heard the raised voice in my overt communication. You might connect that overt communication with a covert emotion and thus, understand the symbolism.
My Expression Tool Kit
I have a tool kit for expressing myself. By observing my behavior, you can learn a lot about who I think I am. And how I see my world. Thus, my overt behavior expresses my inner covert beliefs.
From my senses to my good sense, those tools are symbolic expressions of my identity. That tool kit expresses overt behaviors based on a covert ability to:
- Survive on instinct:
- Breathe
- Wake/Sleep
- Seek, consume, and process nourishment, and eliminate waste
- Seek shelter or safety, and avoid threats
- Respond to stimuli
- Communicate
- Desire to defend my and others’ lives
- Reproduce
- Heal, grow, and adapt
- Innate drive to seek pleasure and avoid pain
- Experience through my senses, my thoughts, my feelings and my body .
- Sense fairness, equality, inequality
- Judge the difference between: right and wrong, justice and mercy, cruelty, kindness, and indifference.
- Learn to live by rules, principles and laws – cooperate with others.
- Think for myself, doubt, question, answer, and interact with my environment.
- Apply beliefs, biases, prejudices, forgiveness, non-judgement.
- Mimic and counter my environment.
- Communicate through various mediums like, voice, body language, and etc.
- Understand, teach, learn, inspire, confuse, deny, acknowledge, agree and disagree.
- Interpret, assume, presuppose, take advantage, use, waste, exploit.
- Compare, compete, cooperate.
- Feel pain, pleasure, fear and other emotions.
- Harm others and myself.
- Practice the 7 deadly sins:
- Lust
- Gluttony
- Greed
- Sloth
- Wrath
- Envy
- Pride
- Pretend, role-play, fantasize, entertain and be entertained.
- Connect with other kinds of communication which I can then share.
- Trust my environment to sustain my body and mind.
- Choose, defend, take apart, put together, build, destroy.
- Resist, accept, innovate, support myself and my environment.
- Move, be still, explore, change, and create.
- Dream and imagine.
- Comprehend symbols, apply meaning, and assess values.
I can’t NOT do any of the above!
Conclusion
Thus – I cannot express in only overt OR covert. I communicate who I am using both. Communication requires an overt expression with a covert meaning. As I come to understand my own expressions, I can learn to understand those of others as metaphors of ME.
Therefore, what I perceive must be a metaphor for who I am.