HUMAN COMMUNICATION DEFINED

Because this is a book about communication, it makes sense to begin by defining that term.This is not as simple as it might seem because people use the term in a variety of ways that are only vaguely related:

Family members, coworkers, and friends make such statements about their

relationships as “We just can’t communicate” or “We communicate perfectly.” Business people talk about “office communications systems”consisting of computers, telephones, printers, and so on. Scientists study and describe communication among ants, dolphins, and other animals.  Certain organizations label themselves “communications conglomerates,”

publishing newspapers,books,and magazines and owning radio and television stations.

There is clearly some relationship among uses of the term such as these, but

we need to narrow our focus before going on. A look at the table of contents of

this book shows that it obviously doesn’t deal with animals, computers, or

newspapers. Neither is it about Holy Communion, the bestowing of a material

thing, or many of the other subjects mentioned in the Oxford English Dictionary’s

1,200-word definition of communication. What, then, are we talking about when we use the term communication? A survey of the ways in which scholars use the word will show that there is no

single, universally accepted usage. Some definitions are long and complex, whereas others are brief and simple.This isn’t the place to explore the differences between these conceptions or to defend one against the others.What we need is a working definition that will help us in our study.For our purposes we will say that communication refers to the process of human beings responding to the

symbolic behavior of other persons.

A point-by-point examination of this definition reveals some important characteristics

of communication as we will be studying it. Communication Is Human In this book we’ll be discussing communication between human beings. Animals clearly do communicate: Bees instruct their hive-mates about the location of food by a meaning-laden dance. Chimpanzees have been taught to express themselves with the same sign language used by deaf humans, and a few have developed impressive vocabularies. And on a more commonplace level,pet owners can testify to the

variety of messages their animals can express. Although this subject of animal communication is fascinating and important, it goes beyond the scope of this book.

Communication Is a Process We often talk about communication as if it occurred in discrete, individual acts such as one person’s utterance or a conversation. In fact, communication is a continuous, ongoing process. Consider, for example, a friend’s compliment about your appearance.

4 PART ONE ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION

Communication of those words will depend on a long series of experiences stretching far

back in time:How have others judged your appearance? How do you feel about

your looks? How honest has your friend been in the past? How have you been

feeling about one another recently? All this history will help shape your response

to the friend’s remark. In turn, the words you speak and the way you say

them will shape the way your friend behaves toward you and others—both in this

situation and in the future.