Communication

The word communication comes from the Latin communis, common. It is the process of transmitting and receiving ideas, information, and messages. The rapid transmission of information over long distances and ready access to information have become conspicuous and important features of human society. To illustrate, it is the process of trying to share information, an idea, or an attitude. At this moment, I am trying to communicate to you the idea that the essence of communication is getting the receiver and the sender “tuned” together for a particular message. At the same moment, someone else is phoning his wife telling her that he will be late for dinner. Someone else, a young man in a parked automobile is trying to persuade a policeman to cancel his speeding ticket. All these are forms of communication and the process in each case is essentially the same.

Communication always requires at least 3 elements: The source, the message, and the destination. A source may be an individual or a communication organization (like a newspaper or television). The message may be in form of ink on paper, sound waves in the air or else. The destination may be an individual listening, watching, reading, or even a member of a group, such as a discussion group, a lecture audience or even an individual member of a particular group. All the above illustration is referring to what is called the traditional concept of communication.

On the other hand, the discovery of communication consists more in a new way of thinking about the human condition than in a new awareness of

particular form of human action. Commonsense notions of communication often refer to it as one thing among others that human beings do. That is, sometimes human beings sleep, sometimes they eat, and sometimes they communicate. Although this seems reasonable enough , it is not a sufficiently rich way to think about communication. The problem comes from constructing any viable definition of communication that excludes sleeping , eating , and other forms of activities. Sleeping while in class is a communicative event, and the manner place, and the companions with whom one eats comprises a rich communicative system. So, rather than defining communication as a subset of human activity, it is more appropriate to view all forms of human activity from a “communication perspective”. This perspective sees all forms of hum...

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...f the human condition: persons interpret their environment and their experience; they interact with their fellows; and they remind themselves that there is more to life than the immediate moment. These are called coherence, coordination,

and mystery. These are not options in which persons may or may not engage, or variables that may be present to some extent; rather, they are constitutive aspects of what it means to be human. All human beings every where and always communicate by coordinating , achieving coherence , and experiencing mystery. Although everyone achieves coherence, coordination, and mystery, not everyone achieves them in the same way. There are important differences among forms of communication, and these forms of communication comprise distinctive ways of being human.

In the final analysis it is important to note that communication is still basically an art. Yet, we endeavor to introduce other fields into it such as science, technology , and philosophy in order to advance it. Moreover, its sophisticated understanding that makes it pairing with the human condition has evolved only recently. Therefore, it is really important to give communication its dues as an art.