Thoughts

The writer-or, for that matter, the speaker conceives his thought whole, as a unity, but must express it in a line of words; the reader- or listener-must take this line of symbols and from it reconstruct the original wholeness of thought. There is little difficulty in conversation because the listener receives innumerable cues from the physical expressions of the speaker; there is a dialogue, and the listener can cut in at any time. The advantage of group discussion is that people can overcome the linear sequence of words by converging on ideas from different directions; which makes for the wholeness of thought. But the reader is confronted by line upon line of printed symbols, without benefits of physical tone and emphasis or the possibility of dialogue or discussion.