The highlights of my human communication theory
Human communication is one of the greatest feats of all mankind that is used each and every day of our existence. The phenomenon of human communication is so common that many do not realize their frequent involvement in it. The ultimate goal of human communication is to ascertain understanding.
Human communication is an extremely vast science that encompasses the theories and works of many scholars. Human communication takes place in almost every facet of life. As a result many people take it for granted, or do not realize how often they do it. Defining human communication can be a daunting task because of its many forms. The definition can never really be completed, but is a process.
Human communications can be defined as the process of passing, receiving, or exchanging information from at least one person to one or more person by means of verbal and non-verbal communication techniques. The information to be communicated comes from the source, which is the sending person. The sending person must then encode the information. The code is just a set of symbols or characters that represent the information. The code can include writing, voice, or the use of signs and symbols. A simple example of this could be two colleagues discussing the weather verbally.
The information to be communicated must use some sort of code. The coding is usually a language that the two communications have in common. Language itself is a type of code. Ferdinand de Saussure believed that all a person knows of the world is determined by language (Littlejohn, 2005, p. 103). There are many different languages throughout the world that are capable of communicating similar yet different concepts.
Once the information is encoded, it must pass through a medium in order to reach the intended destination. The medium can include air waves to receive voice signals, a type of paper to receive written signals, and electronic media can have a multitude of forms. The receiving person can receive the encoded information and decode it in order to find meaning. Meaning is our response to symbols and a metal recognition of what is described or represented (Williams, 1984, p. 6).
In the business world is it important to be effective communicators. Peters relates human communication to the business world by noting that listening must become everyone’s business. The race between competitors will be decided by those who listen and respond most intently (Peters, 1987, p. 177).
Human communication has slowly evolved into what it is today, yet the methods of transmitting it have evolved quite rapidly because of technology. The human voice can now be encoded in electrical impulses, a series of binary numbers, pulses of light, or radio frequencies.
Human communication is a complicated process, whose definition can never be fully completed. The process itself has a multitude of interpretations, yet most follow the basic path of a sender and a receiver trying to gain understanding through verbal and non-verbal communication techniques. Understanding of this vast concept can however be achieved by the use of models and theories.
Littlejohn, S. W. (2005). Theories of Human Communication (8 ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
Peters, T. (1987). Thriving on Chaos. New York: Harper and Row.
Williams, F. (1984). The New Communications. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Inc.