Communication can go wrong in two very different ways. A true message can arrive in pieces and be misunderstood, or an empty message can arrive beautifully packaged and be believed. The book of James says that "everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak" (James 1:19), and both of these stories show why.
These two stories about communication, retold in our own words, include a much-loved legend from the Napoleonic Wars and a real psychology experiment from a medical school in California. Each ends with a takeaway for preachers, teachers and anyone who has to listen carefully.
Stories in this post:
"Wellington Defeated": The Message in the Fog
This is a popular legend rather than documented history. News of Waterloo actually reached London by courier a few days after the battle. The story is retold here as a parable.
On 18 June 1815, near the village of Waterloo in present-day Belgium, the Duke of Wellington's allied army met Napoleon Bonaparte in a battle that would decide the future of Europe. Napoleon had once ruled most of the continent, and Britain had spent years at war with him.
The story goes that, back in England, a man stood at the top of the tower of Winchester Cathedral, staring out toward the coast and waiting for news. Messages in those days could be passed from station to station by signals. At last he saw a ship's light flashing a message, letter by letter.
Just as the signal began, a thick fog rolled in. Only part of it came through. The man read two words: "WELLINGTON DEFEATED."
His heart sank, but it was his job to pass on what he had received. He relayed the message to the next station, and the next, and the terrible news spread across the countryside. Britain's great general had lost. Gloom settled over the land.
Then the fog lifted. The ship sent its message again, and this time the whole thing came through clearly: "WELLINGTON DEFEATED THE ENEMY."
The despair turned to wild celebration. Wellington had won after all. The first message had not been false. It had simply been incomplete.
Takeaway: On Good Friday, the message seemed to read "Jesus defeated." His friends ran, his body was laid in a tomb, and hope disappeared into the fog. On Easter morning the full message came through: "Christ defeated the enemy." Paul shouts it out: "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55). Be slow to pass on half a message about God.
Source: Traditional story; author unknown.
The Dr Fox Effect: When Nonsense Sounds Impressive
In 1970, three researchers at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Donald Naftulin, John Ware and Frank Donnelly, set up an experiment. They hired a professional actor, gave him an impressive fake name, "Dr Myron L. Fox," and an impressive fake biography, and sent him to lecture to a group of experienced professionals: psychiatrists, psychologists and educators.
His topic was "Mathematical Game Theory as Applied to Physician Education." The actor knew nothing about it. He had been coached to deliver a talk built from a popular science article, but deliberately stuffed with double talk, made-up words, contradictions and irrelevant jokes. The content was meant to be empty. The delivery was meant to be warm, confident and entertaining.
Afterwards the audience filled in anonymous questionnaires. They rated the lecture as clear and stimulating. None of them seemed to realise that they had just listened to an hour of polished nonsense. The study was published in 1973 under the title "The Doctor Fox Lecture: A Paradigm of Educational Seduction."
Later, J. Scott Armstrong, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania, tested a related idea with written research. He found that readers tended to rate academic writing as more competent when it was harder to understand, provided it came from what looked like a respectable source in their field. He called this the "Dr Fox hypothesis."
Takeaway: Style can disguise a lack of substance, even to experts. That is a warning for anyone who speaks about God and anyone who listens. Paul refused to rely on "eloquence or human wisdom" (1 Corinthians 2:1 to 5), and the Bereans were praised for checking even Paul's preaching against Scripture (Acts 17:11). Ask of every sermon, including your own: was that clear, and was it true?
Source: D. H. Naftulin, J. E. Ware and F. A. Donnelly, Journal of Medical Education (1973); J. Scott Armstrong, Interfaces 10, no. 2 (1980), as reported in Leadership magazine (1983).
Final thoughts
A true message cut short by fog, and an empty message dressed up as wisdom. Good communication needs both a complete message and real content. These two stories about communication invite us to listen to the whole story before we spread it, and to look past the polish to see whether anything is actually being said.
Which do you find harder: waiting for the full message, or noticing when the message is empty?
More stories you may like:
- Stories About the Power of Words
- Easter Stories About the Resurrection
- Stories About Wisdom, Foolishness and Growth
These stories are retold in our own words for teaching and reflection. Sources are credited under each story.
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