Huh? What did you say?

A new study examined languages from around the world and discovered what they say could be a universal word: ''Huh?''. Researchers travelled to cities and remote villages on five continents, visiting native speakers of 10 very different languages. Their nearly 200 recordings of casual conversations revealed that there are versions of ''Huh?'' in every language they studied - and they sound remarkably similar. In Finnish "huh?" is "häh?".


Today was a lecture day and two more interesting communication theories were discussed; Cognitive dissonance and Functional Perspective on Group Decision Making.

Cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is an aversive drive that causes people to
(1) avoid opposing viewpoints,
(2) seek reassurance after making a tough decision, and
(3)change private beliefs to match public behavior when there is minimal justification for an action.
Self-consistency, a sense of personal responsibility, or self-affirmation can explain dissonance reduction.


Functional Perspective on Group Decision Making

Groups make high-quality decisions when members fulfill four requisite functions:
(1) problem analysis,
(2) goal setting,
(3) identification of alternatives, and
(4) evaluation of positive and negative consequences.
Most group communication disrupts progress toward accomplishing these functional tasks, but counteractive communication can bring people back to rational inquiry.



Today's shot is from the university's Pinni building. It was again a grey and rainy day.


+5, cloudy and rainy