Why People Send Terrible Emails (research explains...)

Summary

This video script explores the challenges of email communication, highlighting the 'Curse of Knowledge' and 'Negativity Bias'. It explains how senders often assume recipients understand context, leading to misinterpretations. The script also discusses generational differences in interpreting punctuation, suggesting that younger individuals perceive full stops as negative. To improve email clarity, it advises being mindful of these biases and generational perceptions.

Takeaways

• 💌 **Email Volume**: Every day, 306 billion emails are sent and received worldwide, indicating the massive scale of digital communication.
• 🤔 **Understanding Emails**: People often struggle with writing and interpreting emails due to cognitive biases and lack of shared context.
• 🎶 **The Curse of Knowledge**: This cognitive bias causes people to assume others have the same understanding as them, leading to miscommunication.
• 👂 **The Tapping Test**: A study by Elizabeth Newton showed that people in the 'tapper' role overestimated how well 'listeners' could understand their taps.
• 📉 **Negativity Bias**: Emails are often perceived more negatively than intended, with receivers interpreting neutral messages as negative.
• ❓ **Ambiguity in Emails**: The example email could be seen as negative, neutral, or positive, showing how easily meaning can be lost without context.
• 🔍 **Punctuation Perception**: People's perception of punctuation like full stops and ellipses can vary, with some seeing them as negative or insincere.
• 📊 **Generational Differences**: Younger people are more likely to interpret messages with full stops as negative compared to those without.
• 👥 **Egocentrism**: The inability to see things from another's perspective contributes to miscommunication in emails.
• ✍️ **Clear Communication**: Being aware of biases like the Curse of Knowledge and Negativity Bias can help improve the clarity of our messages.

Q & A

What is the 'Curse of Knowledge' and how does it affect communication?

The 'Curse of Knowledge' is a cognitive bias where a person assumes that others have the same background knowledge to understand what they are communicating. It leads to ineffective communication because the sender overestimates the clarity of their message.

What is the significance of the 'tap test' experiment conducted by Elizabeth Newton?

The 'tap test' experiment demonstrated the Curse of Knowledge by showing that people in the 'tapper' role could not accurately predict how well 'listeners' would guess the song being tapped. It illustrates how difficult it is to communicate information clearly when you are already familiar with it.

How does the 'Curse of Knowledge' relate to writing and reading emails?

When writing emails, the sender has all the context in their head, but the receiver may not. This can lead to misunderstandings because the sender assumes the receiver understands the context, leading to emails that seem disconnected or unclear.

What is 'egocentricity' in the context of communication?

Egocentricity refers to the inability to see things from someone else's point of view. In communication, it can cause people to assume that their message is clear and understood, even when it is not, due to a lack of empathy or understanding of the receiver's perspective.

What is 'Negativity Bias' and how does it influence the perception of emails?

Negativity Bias is the tendency to interpret ambiguous information as negative. In the context of emails, if a sender feels positive about an email, the receiver often feels neutral or negative, suggesting that messages are often perceived less positively than intended.

What did the speaker discover about the perception of punctuation in emails?

The speaker found that people often have a negative bias towards certain punctuation marks, such as the full stop and ellipsis, which are perceived as 'passive aggressive', 'skeptical', 'ominous', and 'very very bad'. This has led to an increase in the use of exclamation points to make emails seem more positive.

How does age affect the interpretation of punctuation in messages?

A 2018 study showed that people born before 1985 did not perceive a difference in negativity based on the presence of full stops in messages, while those born in 1985 or later rated messages with full stops as more negative.

What is the role of 'Generational Punctuation' in communication?

Generational Punctuation refers to the differences in how different age groups interpret punctuation in messages. Younger people may perceive certain punctuation marks, like full stops, as more negative, which can affect workplace dynamics and school interactions.

Why is it challenging to communicate effectively through emails?

Communicating effectively through emails is challenging because people overestimate their ability to convey a message clearly. The daily volume of emails is high, and it is mentally exhausting to craft every message with full intention and clarity.

What can be done to improve email communication?

To improve email communication, one can be aware of the Curse of Knowledge, Negativity Bias, and Generational Punctuation. Being mindful of these factors can help nudge messages towards clearer and more effective communication.

How many billion emails are sent and received worldwide every day?

Every single day, 306 billion emails are sent and received worldwide.