We've all experienced miscommunications.
They can range from hilarious to disastrous.
The actor Alan Alder.
Yes, that Alan Alder from MAsh and the West Wing and 30 Rock, wants to help us all communicate better.
And I've noticed that the more empathy I have, the less annoying other people are now fighting.
Miscommunication might seem like an ironic choice for an actor whose comedy career has been built on all the funny consequences of people misunderstanding one another.
But more recently, Alan has shifted his focus toward helping scientists and the rest of us say what we mean, mean what we say, and listen better to one another.
I taped a conversation with Alan at a live event in Washington, DC about his new book.
If I understood you, would I have this look on my face?
Alan Alda, welcome to Hidden Brain.
Thank you.
I want to start by asking you about an episode in your life some years ago.
You were sitting in a dentist's chair, and the dentist had a very sharp instrument a couple of inches from your mouth.
What happened next?
He stuck it in and carved my gums.
But before he did that, he felt it was important to check off on his list something that he had to say to me before he did this operation.
The procedure was one he had invented, and he was kind of proud of it because he was taking out a front tooth that was kind of dead and that would leave a socket.
So he had invented this method where he would draw down some of the gum over the socket to give a blood supply while it healed, which was a nice idea, except he felt he had to explain to me what he was going to do, and he wasn't real clear about it.
He had the scalpel really inches from my face.
And he said, now there'll be some tethering.