How Context Leads to Understanding

A brief post (and video) about the role of context in helping ideas enter the gauntlet of the mind.

In the last post, I shared a few examples of context in action. Next, we’ll see how context shapes how we understand new information.

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A One-Way Street?

It’s easy to think of explanation as a one-way street. We understand something and then share it with others. In this scenario, the audience only receives information. They are not necessarily an active participant.

This assumption is incorrect.

Explanation is more of a two-way street. Why? Because an explanation is like raw data to the audience. It can be useful on its own, but to have real power, it needs to be connected with meaning in their minds. They decide, not the explainer.

How does that happen? Via personal context.

Meaning Comes from Context

Our minds are full of knowledge and experiences that create a sense of context that we try to apply to new information. When it arrives, we automatically look for how it connects to what we already know. If we have context, the information takes on more meaning. If we don’t, it can be forgotten.

This brief video helps explain the big idea:

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Olivia at the Doctor

In this series, I’ve shared the story of Olivia, who is trying to remember advice from her doctor. She’s distracted, but is listening and assumes everything will sink in. Spoiler: she’ll forget most of the advice she hears.

One piece of advice made it into her long-term memory: eat more fiber to reduce cholesterol. The question is why? What was it about that point?

• First, the advice earned her attention. It was new information that felt like a threat to her health.

• Second, she already knows about the connections between cholesterol and heart disease. This personal context added meaning to the advice.

• Third, the doctor added more context by saying, “Your cholesterol numbers have gone up and can lead to heart disease. You should eat more fiber because fiber helps remove bad cholesterol.” This bit of logic made sense to Olivia.

In short, Olivia easily saw meaning in this information, and that is what helped it become memorable. The information from the doctor connected to her mind in a way that made it stick.

Using the Two-Way Street

It’s obvious that context matters in communication. Great communicators use it deftly to relate information with context and meaning. But that’s not enough. One way context can’t do it all.

We must also consider the audience’s existing context and prior knowledge. Our explanations have a much better chance of being remembered if we appeal to the context that exists in the minds of the audience. We want context to quickly snap into place, so that meaning is easy to see.

Give your audience a way to see meaning that goes beyond your words, and appeals to something deep inside their minds, and they are much more likely to remember what you say.

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