The principle of relevance

In spoken or written communication the main principle that creates successful communication is the principle of relevance. The speaker assumes that a hearer listens to what he has to say because she is interested in it: it has relevance for her. That may seem to be overstating the position of the hearer, but in fact we do not merely throw words at one another; those words do relate to situations, contexts in which both speaker and hearer share a common body of knowledge. Humans do not make remarks, or even signs, without an assumption that the hearer will increase her knowledge by listening, or will be able to reassess some information previously held. We listen because we expect relevance, even though we might not articulate it as such. This does not necessarily, or even usually, involve a conscious process, but even a superficial consideration of why we communicate with one another involves the belief that the listener will have some interest in what we have to say. This might not be the perspective of the hearer, or necessarily be of benefit to the hearer, but it will be relevant to her. Even those situations in which a speaker wants to obtain information may give some relevance to a hearer. On many occasions fear makes us unwilling to ask a question, or to ask for help, because of the inferences which the hearer will draw from such a request. The hearer may not want to hear what a speaker has to say but that does not thereby deny its relevance.—Margaret Sim, A Relevant Way to Read, 4