Communication
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Communication is the process of sending information to oneself or another entity, usually via a language. Specialized fields focus on various aspects of communication, and include Mass Communication, Communication Studies, Organizational Communication, Sociolinguistics, Conversation Analysis, Cognitive Linguistics, Linguistics, Pragmatics, Semiotics, and Discourse Analysis.
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Content, form, and destination of human communication
Communication is usually described along three major dimensions: content, form, and destination. Examples of communication content include acts that declare knowledge and experiences, give advice and commands, and ask questions. These acts may take many forms, including gestures (nonverbal communication, sign language and body language), writing, or verbal speaking. The form depends on the symbol systems used. Together, communication content and form make messages that are sent towards a destination. The target can be oneself, another person (in interpersonal communication), or another entity (such as a corporation or group).
There are many theories of communication, and a commonly held assumption is that communication must be directed towards another person or entity. This essentially ignores intrapersonal communication (note intra-, not inter-) via diaries or self-talk.
Interpersonal conversation can occur in dyads and groups of various sizes, and the size of the group impacts the nature of the talk. Small-group communication takes place in settings of between three and 12 individuals, and differs from large group interaction in companies or communities. At the largest level, mass communication describes messages sent to huge numbers of individuals through mass media, although there is debate if this is an interpersonal conversation.
Communication theories
The wide range of theories about communication make summarization difficult. However, a basic model of communication describes communication as a five-step output-input process that entails a sender's creation (or encoding) of a message, and the message's transmission through a channel or medium. This message is received and then interpreted. Finally this message is responded to, which completes the process of communication. This model is based on a model of signal transmission known as the Shannon-Weaver model. A related model can be seen in the work of Roman Jakobson.
Communication mediums
The beginning of human communication through artificial channels, i.e. not vocalization or gestures, goes back to ancient cave paintings, drawn maps, and writing.
Our indebtedness to the Ancient Romans in the field of communication does not end with the Latin root "communicare". They devised what might be described as the first real mail or postal system in order to centralize control of the empire from Rome. This allowed for personal letters and for Rome to gather knowledge about events in its many widespread provinces.
In the last century, a revolution in telecommunications has greatly altered communication by providing new mediums for long distance communication. The first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast occurred on July 25, 1920 and led to common communication via analog and digital mediums:
- Analog telecommunications include traditional Telephony, radio, and TV broadcasts.
- Digital telecommunications allow for computer-mediated communication, telegraphy, and computer networks.
Communications mediums impact more than the reach of messages. They impact content and customs; for example, Thomas Edison had to discover that hello was the least ambiguous greeting by voice over a distance; previous greetings such as hail tended to be garbled in the transmission. Email has produced the Emoticon
Significantly, new communication mediums now allow for intense long-distance exchanges between larger numbers of people (many-to-many communication via e-mail, Internet forums). On the other hand, many traditional mass media favor one-to-many communication (television, cinema).
The adoption of a dominant communication medium is important enough that historians have folded civilization into "ages" according to the medium most widely used. A book titled "Five Epochs of Civilization" by William McGaughey (Thistlerose, 2000) divides history into the following stages: Ideographic writing produced the first civilization; alphabetic writing, the second; printing, the third; electronic recording and broadcasting, the fourth; and computer communication, the fifth.
While it could be argued that these "Epochs" are just a historian's construction, digital and computer communication shows concrete evidence of changing the way humans organize. The latest trend in communication, termed smartmobbing, involves ad-hoc organization through mobile devices, allowing for effective many-to-many communication and social networking.
Talking is the direct and quick way for communication. Something that is communicated by or to or between people or groups. Between people, you have to speak out what you want to say or complain what you can't tolerate any more. Under this communication, then others can understand it easily. If you do no choose to say it and keep it as a secret, then you can't expect others to know you. It is mission impossible to everyone. No matter what methods you take as talking, writing, and even use your body language, all you have to do is express it out.
Communication barriers
The following factors can impede human communication:
- Not understanding the language
- Verbal and non-verbal messages are in a different language. This includes not understanding the jargon or idioms used by another sub-culture or group.
- Not understanding the context
- Not knowing the history of the occasion, relationship, or culture.
- Obfuscation
- Intentionally scrambling the messages.
- Distraction
- Not giving adequate attention to processing the message in real-time, perhaps because of multitasking.
- Lack of backchannel cues in asynchronous communication
- The inability to give immediate feedback such as a question ("what?") or acknowledgement ("I see") may lead to larger misunderstandings.
- Lack of time
- There is not enough time to communicate with everyone.
- Physics
- Physical barriers to the transmission of messages, such as background noise, facing the wrong way, talking too softly, and physical distance.
- Medical issues
- Hearing loss and various brain conditions can hamper communication.
- Beliefs
- World-views may discourage one person from listening to another.
- Emotions
- Fear and anxiety associated with communication is known by some Psychologists as communication apprehension. Besides apprehension, communication can be impaired via processes such as bypassing, indiscrimination, and polarization.
Other examples of communication
Artificial
- jungle drums
- smoke signals
- semaphores (use of devices to increase the distance "hand" signals can be seen from by increasing the size of the movable object)
- Voyager Golden Record (sent on Voyager 1 into interstellar space)
- Photography
- Art (including Theatre Arts)
Biological
- Written and spoken language
- Hand signals and body language
- Territorial marking (animals such as dogs - stay away from my territory)
- Pheromones communicate (amongst other things) (e.g. "I'm ready to mate") - a well known example is moth traps, which contain pheromones to attract moths.
References
[1] Dance, Frank. "The 'concept' of communication. Journal of Communication, 20, 201-210 (1970).
See also
- Conversation
- Communications satellite
- Communication Studies
- Computer network
- Diffusion of innovations
- Ethernet
- Global telephone network also known as the Public Switched Telephone Network PSTN
- Information theory
- Intercultural competence
- Internet
- Journalism
- Linguistics
- Mass media
- Media studies
- Metacommunicative competence
- Neurolinguistic programming
- Radioteletype
- Rhetorical criticism
- Semaphore
- Social software
- Toastmasters International
- Surveillance
- Traffic analysis
External resources
Books
- McGaughey, William (2000). "Five Epochs of Civilization." Minneapolis: Thistlerose Publications. ISBN 0960563032.
- Witzany, Guenther (2000). "Life: The Communicative Structure." Norderstedt; Books on Demand. ISBN 3831103496.
