Understanding depends upon good communication. Communication is vital to any guidance system or computer. You cannot react appropriately if the information you act upon is faulty or misunderstood. Many doctors believe that "confusion" is the basic element in neurosis. To deal effectively with a problem, you must have some understanding of its true nature. Most of our failures in human relations are due to "misunderstandings."
We expect other people to react and respond and come to the same conclusions as we do from a given set of "facts" or "circumstances." We should remember what we said in an earlier chapter—no one reacts to "things as they are," but to his own mental images. Most of the time the other person's reaction or position is not taken in order to make us suffer, nor to be hardheaded, nor malicious, but because he "understands" and interprets the situation differently from us. He is merely responding appropriately to what—to him—seems to be the truth about the situation. To give the other person credit for being sincere, if mistaken, rather than willful and malicious, can do much to smooth out human relations and bring about better understanding between people. Ask yourself, "How does this appear—to him?" "How does he interpret this situation?" "How does he feel about it?" Try to understand why he might "act the way he does."
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