“We have been discussing about so many topics. Today, we will pick up some random topic.”
“But what context?”
“Make it Context”
“It will be very interesting, but what is there so much to discuss about this?”
“It’s the most important factor; everything revolves around context.”
“I don’t get it. Can you elaborate a bit?”
“A famous quote from Henry Ford goes like this: Colour of your choice, as long as it is black, what do you understand from this?”
“It appears weird. I wonder how a man of his calibre makes such a statement. Can you throw some light on this?”
“Possibly, this is the best known automotive quote of all time. Now let us examine the context when he made this statement. Henry Ford started his company in 1903. He made many different types of cars before introducing Model T in 1908.
His other vehicles were fancier, but he wanted to make a simple car, which is inexpensive and most people could afford. Initially, the Model T came in different colours. The black only policy came into effect in 1914, when the new assembly line was introduced in his factory. Black paint was the cheapest, and using a single paint reduced the production time considerably, as it saved the time for change over.The car was a great success, and it is believed that there was a huge demand from the sales team for other colours also. But he refused and said, ‘any colour the customer wants, as long as it is black’. There is no conclusive evidence to prove this statement, except for a mention in his cowritten autobiography.”
“That means, if you remove the context, the statement makes no sense.”
“Exactly. All the actions, discussions, statements, and reactions revolve around the context. This is applicable for all situations. To get a clear picture, you need a thorough understanding of the context.”
“I never thought of so many implications of context. Now, things are very much clear.”
“It’s not yet over. When we talk about context, it is not complete till we understand about out of context.” I paused for a moment.
“But what is out of context?”
“Since we have understood about context, it is easier to discuss about out of context. If you take out any part of the context, say part of a speech, an action, discussion or reaction, and connect it with a different situation, it is out of context. It will be a mismatch and will give a different picture altogether.”
“But why should anyone do this, and what purpose will be served by doing this?”
“Basically, there are two situations; first is unintentional, may be due to ignorance. This plays havoc in personal relationships. This is the major cause for misunderstandings in personal relationships. Just recall any past events, like a get together, birthday party, reception, or an official meeting. You might have met so many people and interacted with many including the near and dear ones. You might have told many things, some seriously, and some casually.
But do you have any idea in which perspective the other party has taken it? It again depends on the mindset of the other party, and other circumstances like preconceived opinions. If they don’t like it, they form an adverse opinion about you. People seldom find your intentions beneath your words. Or you can put it this way, there is no mechanism in this world to find out the intentions beneath your words or actions. People never forget whatever they perceived in the adverse sense. This adverse image is carried over for all other situations as well, remember that the first adverse image was formed based on that particular context.
Second is intentional, for example, for vested interests like material gains, to pull down some one due to personal differences, to take revenge, etc. It’s even used against institutions, or even countries. This is being used to create differences in relationships, ruining someone’s reputation, creating riots, brainwashing for destructive purposes, ultimately resulting in the collapse of the elected government of a country.”
“Is it possible to do all of these?”
“Yes, you can do more than that. Take out a part of the context, create a new storyline suiting your need, add videos, clippings and contents using the social media, authenticate by celebrities from different fields including the press, and opposition leaders. The material is ready. Creates misunderstandings in relationships, helps to spread rumours, unrest and hatred in the society leading to riots, and the ultimate collapse of the system. As someone has rightly said, it is easier to mislead people rather than lead.”
“Then what’s the way out? How to safeguard our interests?”
“Mischief mongers and troublemakers were there since time immemorial. But as responsible citizens, we should be vigilant against such elements. So, please follow:
- Don’t take any information as real for granted
- Verify the source of the information; do some fact check.
- Try to find out the intention behind any information
- Is it meant to create unrest and chaos in the society?
- Educate everyone about the outcome of any hasty decision and action taken without any basis
- Be proactive, don’t wait for any major chaos to happen. Initiate counter checks before it is too late. Inform the competent authorities.
- Beware of rumour mongers. Make it punishable under the law
- Let us all work together to make the world a better place to live in”
