You understand what I mean... Right?

I love reading other peoples blogs. Not only do they provide a more simplified overview of the weeks topic they (in some cases) refer to everyday situations which I can relate to and reminisce on. One particular blog that caught my eye this week was that of Nicole Michielin’s blog post “The Morality of Cognition”. (I also commented on her blog- See link)

‘The focus of this weeks’ reading surrounded Garfinkel and the “morality of cognition”, whereby amidst conversation there are unspoken mutual understandings referring to what we actually mean as opposed to saying directly what we mean- which I experience on a day to day basis. What I liked about Nicole’s blog was that it provided an overview of the weekly reading topic in a way in which I’m sure many of us can relate to - a conversation between Mother and Daughter whereby Nicole outlines the underlying meaning of the conversation as well as the spoken dialogue.

Nicole gives reasoning for the unspoken understandings between her mother and herself noting that due to their relationship “they don’t have to explicitly state the meaning behind every statements because they ‘just know’ what the other person means.” Like Nicole I also have these conversations with my family members and friends whereby we don’t need to directly state our intent, however they are conveyed through these mutual understandings as outlined and examined by Garfinkel. 

I also feel that this is conveyed not only through conversation but also through facial expressions- I often find myself raising my eyebrows whilst pulling a particular face at my mum with her understanding to be "Shut up- Dont talk about that", exampling the use of this mutual understanding through facial expressions.

Is there anyone who you have this underlying mutual understanding in conversations with? Why do you feel that they understand you in this manner in order to understand the underlying meaning of your conversation?