Miscommunications happen all the time. It is very easy for somebody to mishear another person and think they said something other than what was spoken. However, miscommunications do not always come from mishearing something, but also from misinterpreting what is said. When people communicate what they want, they often are not very specific because what they say may seem obvious to them, but the listener could take it another way. Miscommunications happen in very high-stakes situations too, not just in normal conversation. A very famous example is a 1999 Mars mission lead by NASA which blew up when it entered the atmosphere of Mars. This was due to a lack of understanding between scientists about which units to use when doing their calculations. This resulted in some numbers being in Newtons while others related to pounds of force, and this miscommunication caused billions of dollars to blow up.
There are other examples of catastrophic miscommunications throughout history. In 1854 a British brigade advanced in a suicidal charge towards a much larger Russian force. However, this was not what the British commander wanted, but there was a miscommunication of orders through the ranks. The commander wanted the brigade to make sure the Russians did not move their heavy artillery guns. However, the brigade thought the commander wanted them to charge and try and reach the Russians artillery, which was located on the other side of the Russian defenses. This miscommunication of orders resulted in the lives of hundreds of British soldiers being taken.
Another tragic miscommunication was between the US and Japan. In 1945, a declaration of surrender was made by the US. When reporters asked Japan’s prime minister about Japan’s decision, he responded with the Japanese equivalent of “no comment.” However, the United States mistranslated his statement into something more closely resembling “not worthy of comment” or “holding in silent contempt.” This miscommunication prompted the US to launch an atomic bomb on Hiroshima just 10 days later, making this translation known as one of the most tragic miscommunications in history.
In my IS 2000 class, we discuss the challenges of gathering information. Miscommunication is always one of the greatest obstacles in eliciting information. There are many reasons this could happen such as a language barrier, a mishearing, or someone having trouble communicating what is in their mind. This is one reason why ontologies are incredibly helpful. They allow people to visualize what is going on in a system rather than just rely on implicit information and word of mouth. There is no language barrier when dealing with shapes and symbols on a chart, and no chance to mishear what the chart is saying. Working together to form one collective understanding of what is happening is necessary to successfully complete objectives. If the scientists at NASA had collectively decided on what units to use, then their shuttle would not have exploded. If the British had formed a battle plan on paper and made sure all commanders understood the plan before executing it then they would not have charged into certain death. A confirmation of Japan’s intentions or a better translation of the prime minister’s statement could have possible avoided Hiroshima. Miscommunications can be incredibly small yet still have enormous consequences. This is why information must be stored and organized before it is used, because a misinterpretation can be the cause of major problems.
Here is the link to an interesting article that talks about other major miscommunications in history. It is interesting to think about how the implementation of some sort of ontology could have prevented these events.
Nick Bagley
Information Science 