Self-Expression and Communication

I began to realise that self-expression is a solitary activity, in which a single person attempts to put into words thoughts that are in its own mind. Communication, on the other hand, is a social activity, in which the person attempts to put into words thoughts that it wants to be in another person's mind.

I learned that to communicate effectively, you need to express yourself as clearly and as simply as possible. You need to express yourself clearly, so that your readers (or listeners) understand what you intend and do not understand something else. And you need to express yourself simply, so that your readers do not expend unnecessary effort to extract a useful form of your intended meaning. I eventually convinced myself that both of these characteristics of effective communication have a logical interpretation.

From "From Mathematical Logic, to Natural Language, Artificial Intelligence, and Human Thinking (A Short Essay in Honour of Andrzej Mostowski)" by Robert Kowalski



I find that my previous post has some common points with this quote. At least in that there is indeed a problem of expression (art) vs. communication.



Lyrics

It's Your Song
Garth Brooks

Standing in the spotlight
On such a perfect night
Knowing that your out there listening
I remember one time
When I was so afraid
Didn't think I had the courage
To stand up on this stage
Then you reached into my heart
And you found the melody
And if there ever was somebody
Who made me believe in me
It was you
It was you

It was your song that made me sing
It was your voice that gave me wings
And it was your light that shined
Guiding my heart to find
This place where I belong
It was your song

Every night I pray
Before the music starts to play
That I'll do my best and I won't let you down
And for all the times I've stood here
This feeling feels brand new
And any time I doubt myself I think of you

'Cause It was your song that made me sing
It was your voice that gave me wings
And it was your light that shined
Guiding my heart to find
This place where I belong
It was your song

Dreams can come true
With God's great angels like you

It was your song that made me sing
It was your voice that gave me wings
And it was your light that shined
Guiding my heart to find
This place where I belong
It was your song
It was your song
It's always been your song