silversolitaire (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
silversolitaire) wrote2001-10-26 10:09 pm
silversolitaire) wrote2001-10-26 10:09 pm
Intercultural Communication
I wanted to talk about this cool experiment we did in Intercultural Communication last Tuesday. Never got to do it!
We were put into four groups. Six people per one group and we got into pairs, so that there were three players per group effectively. We were supposed to play cards. We got the rules handed out on a sheet and were supposed to memorize them. After five minutes, the sheets were taken away and we weren't allowed to talk anymore. Only communication by hands, signs and drawings was allowed. It was a normal card game. Following suit was mandatory, one suit was trump, the couple with the most tricks won. The best couple moved one table up and the worst one down. That way, there was a strict rotation.
We started playing. I was on table 1, so I kinda was fucked from the start. I never got to move, no matter what, because I was such a bad player and worse than 1 didn't happen! hahaha. It was weird not to talk. All the while we saw all the others vividly discussing and we had no idea what there was the need to discuss. One couple left our table and returned the next round. So, not much rotation for us. At the last round, suddenly there was Ms. Class Asshole at our table. She started gesticulating wildly, showing us cards, drawing question marks and doing weird noises. We had no idea what the fuck was wrong with her. Then we started playing. I wanted to trump her card and she shook her head vigorously, drawing a heart on the paper, whereas spades was trump. We got pretty annoyed.
Then, the experiment was over. And the teacher revealed the trick. Each table had a different trump card! And nobody knew! When a couple moved to another table, they ran into problems regarding the trump cards and had to solve them! We, on the other hand, never noticed that since nothing happened on our table! Hahahaha! That way, we became the example for the person who never leaves his country and has people who left it return and tell them everything's the same. Thus, we reacted very hostile to a strange who was acting strangely towards us!
I thought it was very fascinating! It's strange how you react, even if it's just a simulation game. When you can't communicate, you suddenly feel very vulnerable. You think a) everybody else is too stupid to understand the rules, b) they're doing it on purpose to annoy you, c) you're the only one who got it right d) they're trying to cheat you. It was very, very enlighening! No matter how tolerant you think you are, you can always walk into the trap when you don't expect to encounter a communication problem.
It was interesting to see how others handled the situation, too. Some dominated the group, forced others to accept their trump card. Others deciced democratically. Others tried to solve the problem from the start and adapted to the group's current trump card. Like a mirror of society! ^_^
We were put into four groups. Six people per one group and we got into pairs, so that there were three players per group effectively. We were supposed to play cards. We got the rules handed out on a sheet and were supposed to memorize them. After five minutes, the sheets were taken away and we weren't allowed to talk anymore. Only communication by hands, signs and drawings was allowed. It was a normal card game. Following suit was mandatory, one suit was trump, the couple with the most tricks won. The best couple moved one table up and the worst one down. That way, there was a strict rotation.
We started playing. I was on table 1, so I kinda was fucked from the start. I never got to move, no matter what, because I was such a bad player and worse than 1 didn't happen! hahaha. It was weird not to talk. All the while we saw all the others vividly discussing and we had no idea what there was the need to discuss. One couple left our table and returned the next round. So, not much rotation for us. At the last round, suddenly there was Ms. Class Asshole at our table. She started gesticulating wildly, showing us cards, drawing question marks and doing weird noises. We had no idea what the fuck was wrong with her. Then we started playing. I wanted to trump her card and she shook her head vigorously, drawing a heart on the paper, whereas spades was trump. We got pretty annoyed.
Then, the experiment was over. And the teacher revealed the trick. Each table had a different trump card! And nobody knew! When a couple moved to another table, they ran into problems regarding the trump cards and had to solve them! We, on the other hand, never noticed that since nothing happened on our table! Hahahaha! That way, we became the example for the person who never leaves his country and has people who left it return and tell them everything's the same. Thus, we reacted very hostile to a strange who was acting strangely towards us!
I thought it was very fascinating! It's strange how you react, even if it's just a simulation game. When you can't communicate, you suddenly feel very vulnerable. You think a) everybody else is too stupid to understand the rules, b) they're doing it on purpose to annoy you, c) you're the only one who got it right d) they're trying to cheat you. It was very, very enlighening! No matter how tolerant you think you are, you can always walk into the trap when you don't expect to encounter a communication problem.
It was interesting to see how others handled the situation, too. Some dominated the group, forced others to accept their trump card. Others deciced democratically. Others tried to solve the problem from the start and adapted to the group's current trump card. Like a mirror of society! ^_^