Visakan Jayaswetha Vanagopal

The Spirit of Blogging

2007-12-12T08:36:44Z

Alright, now that we have “completed” our blog assignments, what’s next? One of the interesting aspects about this blog project that we have done is that, apart from helping us understand that it is possible to build a distributed collaborative community, we were also able to realize that blogging is a tool that we can use to express our views about issues that are not mandatory to talk about. All of us researched about Web 2.0, European Renaissance and Human Communication and we blogged about these topics mostly because we had to. But there were certain topics that were blogged which we didn’t do out of compulsion.

]]> We learnt that this is one the most effective tools that we can use to express views about topics that we feel are interesting and that we feel have information that we can share. There were things that none of us knew which we were able to learn from just reading the posts. Like the one from Kristina Coburn where she told us about how dating is done in Mexico, the one from Rajeev Karki which told us how he was able to understand human communication from his 10 month old child and the one from Anisha Chandrasekharan which enlightened us about the beauty of a serene place called Auroville in India.
The point that I am trying to make here is that even though we were busy battling time with our assignments and things, we had bloggers who were able to see this tool as not just a 200 point assignment. Blogging is not easy, I accept. But I believe that even the most difficult of subjects can be made easy and interesting if we develop an interest for that subject and an easy subject can be made difficult if we consider it “boring”. I feel that we should be able to see this tool as not just an assignment. We must see beyond this. I am sure that we will soon be able to find this tool as means of communicating with each other in not only a professional but also in a friendly manner. One other thing that CICS world offers is that we will still be able to blog even after we graduate out of CICS. We will still be able to collaborate with each other even if one is placed in L.A. and the other is placed in India. It helps in creating relationships that are professional in nature. Of course, there are other ways of maintaining relationships. But now that we are exposed to a tool that we are familiar with, I suggest that we make use of this opportunity.
I am not making conclusions here. I really did not have to blog this. I am just expressing my sincere thoughts about a tool that I find to be beyond what many of us perceive it to be. The spirit of blogging that has been kept alive for these few months (thanks to all of us) should not fade away as we finish the course or even after we graduate. It will be interesting to find out who blogs after now and I am sure that there will be more creativity in the blogs that are posted on issues that are not given to us, but are chosen by ourselves.
I cannot determine the future but I perceive that I will continue to blog when I find time and more importantly when I hit on something that I want to share.

So, let’s blog away.

European Renaissance: Its Impact On Today’s World

2007-12-07T13:23:08Z

The word “renaissance” means rebirth. This was a period that marked the beginning of a revolution that redefined the way information was being processed. The renaissance has its influence even till today. When Guttenberg invented the printing press, it marked an important turning point in the Information Age.

]]> Before the invention, information was transferred only by the means of word of mouth. There existed some forms of “newspapers” which ran for the elite. But when Guttenburg printed the Bible in his printing press, information had a new form…a rebirth. One might tend to think that it was destined to happen. The invention led to further revolution in information processing. Information was made available to the common man. Everybody had their right to know things.
Though there are many other aspects with regard to the renaissance period, the most interesting invention is the printing press. So I figured that it won’t be bad idea to talk about it. Guttenburg not only figured out a way to print information, he also was instrumental in finding a way to increase the quality of the material. He imported ink from India and used paper from Italy. He was also able to make the press print in mass amounts which made it cheaper and thus available to the common public. People began to read and gain knowledge of things happening not only inside their country but also around the world as the printing press became famous. This helped in increase in number of explorers around Europe.

Its Impact on Today’s World:

None of us could imagine a world without the internet and computers. I sit here in the US and I can speak with anybody with a phone anywhere in the world. Nobody could have imagined this a few hundred years ago. But all these developments eventually trace back their roots to the renaissance period. The reason is that without a start like that, it would have been rather impossible for such a change to occur. It is not the technology that really matters, but it is the impact that it has on its users. What changes does the technology drive in the lives of the humans. What renaissance thought us is that it requires a little bit of creative thinking and innovation to bring about a revolution (though slow in nature) that will have an impact in the world for generations to come.

Human Communication - Encoding My Concept - Part 3

2007-12-07T09:01:02Z

As I approach to the point where I can derive a theory of my own, I would like to share ideas about theories. Different theories are different ways of “talking about” communication, each form using its own powers and limits. But at the same time, the more theories you know, the more problem solving options you have. These were the ideas of Robert T.Craig, a communication theorist. There are a few more aspects which I would like to cover before concluding which are,
1. Models of Communication
2. Clarity in Communication
3. Communication and Leadership

]]> Models of Communication;
There are many models of communication, but the one that has been accepted by a large span of people is the Shannon – Weaver model. This has the simple concept that the sender decodes the message, selects the medium, transmits the message and the receiver decodes the message and he responds depending on what he wants to do. The interesting aspect of this model is that, they claim that there is the concept of noise involved which they say is the “emotions” aspect and this plays a major role in the receiver’s perception of the message (which might not be the way the sender intended it to be).
Also, for communication to be effective, it is necessary that the language used is understood by the receiver. This is the first step in any type of communication. This need not necessarily apply to verbal communication alone.
There is also another model in communication, which is the Craig’s model:
He divides the concept into 7 types and he mainly deals with the emotions aspect of Human Communication.
1. The Semiotic
2. The Phenomenological
3. The Cybernetic
4. Sociopsychological
5. Sociocultural
6. Critical, and
7. Rhetorical

Clarity in Communication:

This is another very interesting aspect in communication. It is very important as to how deductive we get in our communication.
Inductive Communication is the type where we are very general, example, “there is a dead body here”. But this does not help the listener in any way. Deductive Communication is the type where we go into the details like “There has been a murder of a boy near the football stadium.” This brings more clarity in the speech of the person and thus helps the listener to take the next step with much confidence. This is especially true in an organization, because, we have to be specific in giving details if we want to be a good leader.

Leadership:
Tom Peters tells us in his book “Thriving on Chaos” that a good manager must “manage by example” (L – 3). This implies that a manager must communicate to his workers, what he intended by doing it himself. From dressing sense to work ethics, his subordinates will get a non-verbal message that he expects his workers to take him as an example.

L – 1, the Core Paradox defines chaos as “constant change” and this means that a good leader must have his head steady in taking his people from one phase to another. Change can be anything. It is the ability of the leader to communicate the change to his workers in such a way that they do not panic during the situation.
Finally, My Theory of Communication

It is impossible to bring in all the concepts in the subject and to derive a theory that is universal. But it is impossible to come up with one which offers to be one the many logical solutions to the problem of human communication. My theory is that “Human Communication is the process by which a sender is able to get across the intended meaning to the receiver and get a feedback that he finds to satisfy his expectations.”

Human Communication - Encoding My Concept - Part 2

2007-12-07T08:58:14Z

The Next Level:
Now that we have a general concept of Human Communication, let us move to the next level of getting to into the intrinsic aspects of Human Communication.
One of the interesting aspects of human communication is that every human being is different from one another and there is this very interesting aspect in human called emotions which is the link that makes this subject vast. Gestures, facial expressions (which form an essential part of body language), intonation, loudness are some of some of the emotional factors which influence the message transferred.

]]> The influence of emotions can be found in all types of communication (I mean human communication). For example, “I would like to see you” can be told as “I would like to see you” where the stress is on the word I. This implies that the person who wants to see (sender) the other person (receiver) wants to emphasize on the fact that he wants to see the peron for more important reasons than anything else. If the stress is on the word “see”, it implies that the person wants to stress on the fact that the physical presence of the person is more important aspect here. Tears, laughter, smile, frown are some of the types of emotions in oral communication. Use of exclamation and question marks, words used are all types of emotions used in written communication.
Human Communication is also very important in an organization because, when we deal with groups, it is very important to have effective communication so that, every member is able express his/her view, there are multiple options available and there is cohesiveness in groups. Also when there are cross – cultural environments, it is important that communication is done in a very effective way so as to not hurt (or) insult any culture. For example, some cultures don’t go with the habit of shaking hands which is a form of greeting people. So we have to respond (or) greet them in way that they are comfortable with (like bowing). It is when I talk about cross – cultural communication that I feel is the right time to mention about the Triangle of Meaning.

Triangle of Meaning:

The Triangle of Meaning tells us that the three principle elements in the model are “symbol”, “reference” and “referent”. The symbol is a particular phonological or graphical form such as elephant. The thought (or) reference is the meaning – content of the form, namely the idea of the elephant. The thought (or) reference is the meaning – content of the form, namely the idea of the elephant. The referent is the non – linguistic thing that is talked about (the actual elephant).
This means that, what might mean an elephant to one person mught not mean the same to another person, though they are represented by same symbol. These kinds of problems exist a lot in cross – cultural communication and it is very important to act accordingly.

Human Communication - Encoding My Concept - Part 1

2007-12-07T08:19:59Z

Communication is defined as the process by which transmission of information is done between two points using a common set of symbols. It is also very interesting to note that communication is derived from the Latin word “communicare” and has its roots in Middle English. Though the definition given is general, it does give us an idea. But defining Human Communication is a more difficult task and establishing a theory that is accepted by everyone is almost impossible. But this is just an attempt to synthesis a theory that is logical and that which derives support from hours of lecture, collaboration with scholars and opinions of theorists and experts who have done extensive research in this field. I will derive a theory at the end of this paper, but the effectiveness of the theory depends on my ability to communicate it to the reader.

]]> The Analysis:

Before I begin to write down (or) communicate my theory, I would like to do some deep analysis of the various factors and other theories that I have taken into account before I made this decision.
The fact that the history of the subject dates back to the history of mankind, makes it so interesting and vast that it is a very difficult task to come up with a theory. Though the general concept used for defining communication between two machines and two humans are the same, there are a lot factors which are to be considered in Human Communication which vary a lot from human to human. Human Communication is divided broadly into two categories, viz,
1. Verbal Communication, and
2. Non – Verbal Communication
Verbal communication is the type of communication that deals with exchange of words as a method of communication. Words can be transmitted not only by speaking (or even by shouting or singing) but also by writing. Such transfer of information is called written communication. This is one of the important forms of communication in an organization.

Non – Verbal communication is defined as the type of communication where there is no exchange of words, but still information is transferred. Body language, gestures, symbols, touch, small, Para language are few of the many types of non – verbal communication. Symbolic and non – symbolic types of communication are basic forms non – verbal communication.

Symbolic Communication is where symbols are used to communicate. This must have been one of the earliest form of communication when there was no language existing. One of the simple examples is that of communicating to a deaf person.

Non – Symbolic communication on the other hand is the type where there are no explicit symbols used, but there lies a message that is transmitted. Eg., An abstract art (or) music where the comprehension of the meaning depends on the receiver’s perception. Maintaining silence is also another type of non – verbal and non – symbolic communication which, amazingly, transmits message.

China - The Global Business Black Hole

2007-12-06T15:09:52Z

Why China of all the nations in the world? This was the thought that I had when I first started reading the book, China Inc. But as I proceeded reading, I began to realize how the country has turned into an emerging superpower, an industrial and corporate black hole which is steadily absorbing the global market.

]]> The book initially starts of by giving us the current picture of how China is entering the business world and how it is turning out to be the hub of the business world from manufacturing socks and furniture to automobile. The book then tells us in the subsequent chapters as to how China’s infrastructure is one of its strength and how the communist ideology was overcome to make the private sector a mainstay in China. There is extensive research that has gone into the book which is evident when the writer even talks about how the number of women involved in the work force turns out to be more than the men and how this influences the sex industry in China. Throughout the book the writer talks about two important factors that is the main reason for China to be an emerging superpower – population and inexpensive labor. The low manufacturing costs and the huge market that is being served, make China the place where the entire global business converges. The book also examines how the manufacturing jobs in the US are getting burnt because of the price factor in China. The manufacturing scenario in China is such that the price factor will make it the manufacturing hub of the world not just for the present but for the future too.
With improvement in quality also being done in China (which was an issue in some products), the country which once was suffering from poverty and hunger is all set to be the base and hub for the international business world. This book serves a warning to not only the US companies but also companies around the world which will have to eventually make China their friend in business if they need to survive.

Generating Buy - In: A Good Guide for Prospective Sales Professionals

2007-12-06T15:07:48Z

The book Generating Buy-In explores the importance of the concept of buy-in in today’s business world and also analyses the need for generating buy-in as a very important and strategic leadership competency. The book tells us ways to make your customer believe that you can deliver to him more than what he expects even if the reality might not be that.

]]> One of the strong aspects of the book is that it is able to provide us with examples wherever possible and this helps in the better understanding of the concept of generating buy in. It explains to us as to what exists in common between the various thought leaders of different successful companies with regard to the way they generate buy-in.
Communication skills are one of the important attributes that the leader must possess in order to sell the product to the customer. It helps us in understanding that it is the communication skill that is the most important aspect in this and it doesn’t actually matter what type of product you deal with, as long as you understand the product. Interviews, real life examples of companies like Coca-Cola, McDonald and even examples of several US Presidents, the US Army and the US Navy are used as case studies which enable the reader to relate to it, thus strengthening the book’s quality. It also explains how to inspire vision in the customers mind and how to develop commitment in them with regard to the product and eventually achieving the goal. The author also uses famous personalities like Michael Quinlan and Winston Churchill, who have inspired people with their expertise in communication, to elaborate his point. The fact that this book applies to all kinds of sales people – whether experienced or not – helps us to get answers for even the basic questions with regard to the topic. This book eventually helps you to a great extent in developing the skills and the strategic thinking that is required to captivate your customer and ultimately winning his assurance.

Web 2.0 : How it has redefined the web?

2007-12-02T08:55:17Z

When asked to write about web2.0, like everyone else, I started of with the most powerful search engine in the world – Google. But as I moved my pointer over the link which when clicked on, will lead me to a Wikipedia definition of Web 2.0, I kept asking myself if I have to do it. Yeah, I did click on it, eventually. Wikipedia is a good place to start on a concept. With this "good" start, I eventually went on many other links to find out what the concept was. It was truly amazing to find out that, I had to use the concept itself to define it.

]]> Web 2.0, according to O’Rielly, is a thought and not a technology. Wikipedia itself which I considered my starting point is a direct application of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is not for tech savvy people who want wonders to happen on the web on the click of a button. It is about the people who use the web, those who really matter – the users. Its about collaboration and innovation. It’s about making the use of the web really useful for users (sheesh, how “use”ful was that). Nobody worried about what the users thought about the web. Issues like usability never even existed before. We now have usability labs dedicated to find out if the users were comfortable in using a website. From using what the net gives, it has now changed to using what the users demand. A primary school student can go online and get his Math problem solved not by chatting on an IM window with his friend, but through a website which helps students like them. The interesting part is that the problem was solved by someone sitting in an apartment in the remote areas of Southern India. Collaboration, it is.

It is when you look at it from a 10,000 ft view, we realize what is happening. We are not connecting just information, we are connecting people. We are connecting their ideas. My mother can now read this blog and tell herself that her son is a genius (I know, I know). What we are doing is publishing. Millions of people can now access the net and find out what we have to tell about something. There might be someone sitting in the remote locations of Africa, getting connected to the net, and he might be able to share the idea that we have. It is wonderful to think as to how the world is getting linked. The good news is Web 2.0 is not the ultimate. The semantic web and the new and rising concept of Web 3.0 is developing. And like Web 2.0, the change is happening RIGHT NOW. We are feeding the process; we are part of this change.

Before you close this window, I suggest that you use this Web 2.0 application to get an idea about Web 2.0. It is worth the watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

The Human Community

2007-11-25T17:45:29Z

The Human Factors Institute started off this year too and there have been some interesting and innovative projects that have come our way. With the pioneering vision of the Director, Dr.Jay Gillette, the team is all geared up for an exciting year at the institute. The projects are not only interesting, but also innovative and make the researchers to think outside the box.

]]> DML for DCC (Digital Media Learning for Distributed Collaborative Community):

This year among the other projects, the institute was involved with the development of a grant proposal for the MacArthur Foundation. The MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grant making organization that is based in Chicago. This year the foundation was requesting proposals of existing projects in relation to Digital Media and Learning. The existing Weblog project which involved the building of a Distributed Collaborative Community (DCC) using Weblogs as the tool to implement it was seen as the perfect fit to the requirements of this grant.
The fact that this concept has been applied to an active class at the Center (ICS 602- Human Communication) with great success, gave us a strong footing on the proposal. The community megablog uses a movable type platform which is relatively easy to use. The response of the students regarding the unique concept of blogging has been overwhelming and this has helped in the building of a Distributed Collaborative Community.
Women in technology: Another important aspect that is to be covered in the DCC project is the participation of women in the technical world. The blogs act as a platform for the women to express their views on various issues which they might otherwise not communicate. It helps the women community at CICS (both current and alumni) to collaborate with each other thus initiating a healthy competition.
Incidentally, Dr. Jay Gillette presented on our Weblog project at the Global Forum 2007 held at Venice, Italy in November, titled “Creative Collaboration for the Information Renaissance: Weblogs Build Collaborative Community”. The talk was well received.

The People:
One of the greatest resources that the institute is proud of is its human resource. With 15 researchers (that’s one-fourth of the entire class) in the team, the institute resonates with energy and enthusiasm that is sure to take this institute which represents the Center to greater heights.
Dr. Gillette’s concept of involving everyone with everything is being applied at the institute and every researcher gets a chance to head and manage the work sessions every week.
Usability:
One of the projects that is currently under discussion is the usability testing of websites. Though this was being done as a part of the curriculum all these years, it is proposed that this testing can be done as a part of the institute’s research work that goes hand in hand with the curriculum. It is also being discussed about the setting up of usability testing set up that can remain in the lab even for future testing projects.

The Greatest Challenge:
One of the greatest challenge that institute is facing is getting resources for the institute. By resources, I mean things that can be from a table or a chair to computers and money. Human resource is another very important aspect that might prove to be useful for the institute. There is a team (Research Business Development) that is dedicated in working for this and there is a lot of progress that is being made with regard to this. The team is taking support form all the team members and is on the look out for organizations and companies that might be able to use our service and in return offer us any kind of resource that might be useful to the institute.

The Beauty:
The institute meets on Fridays from 10 am to 12 pm. Being a Friday, people tend to relax at the end of the week. But the response of the researchers has been stupendous and it is their participation and enthusiasm that will make this institute a great success.
Another interesting aspect of the institute is that, people participate in the activities of the institute even if they are not physically present. This helps us in building in a community that may be distributed over time and space and still maintain the cohesiveness within the team.

The Glory of Cricket: Why does this game run in the blood of the Indians?

2007-11-25T16:29:24Z

As my roommate and I were tracking the happenings of a game of cricket that is being played as I write this blog, I ask myself the question as to why this game is just not a game for most Indians. One of the few things that we miss having come to the US is cricket. Cricket, for those of you who do not know how the game is played, is a game that involves 22 players, 11 in each team. Based on who wins the toss, one of the team bowls and the other bats. I hold myself to the temptation of explaining the entire game, but the bottom line is you have to just hit the ball. It is actually not as easy as it sounds. You must be tactful in hitting the ball so that you don’t get caught out and you must also protect the three pieces of wood called as “stumps” that is behind the batsman. Vague as the explanation may sound, I just wanted to give you an idea on how the game is played. But the point that I want to talk about is the passion with which the game is played. This is not just a game that you watch and eventually forget about it the next day. People consider it as a religion. The players are their demi-gods. People tend to get so personally involved that they even miss work and classes to see matches being played. One of the main reasons that the game seems to be so popular among Indians is that the game is relatively easy to play and it is totally a team game. More than physical, the game involves the use of the mind in playing it. You get yourself easily involved in the game as you start playing it. This game also remains one of the earliest games that came into India (actually introduced to us by the English).

]]> The problem with the passion
Being passionate about a game is good. But the problem with cricket is that the fans get too involved that any loss by the team is not easily tolerated. There have been numerous incidents of effigies of players being burnt when they did not perform well. If you think that it is just the uneducated and the illiterate class who do this, well, no. Even highly educated people tend to involve in such activities of protests. The fact that this game runs in the blood of the Indians, it hard to reduce the fervor amongst the fans which sometimes tend to kill the spirit of the game.

India v Pakistan – The high voltage game
One of the most intense matches that gets played is the one between India and Pakistan. Being arch rivals not just in the game, these matches tend to trigger a lot of enthusiasm amongst the fans. A man shot himself when his team lost, a weak hearted person died when he was watching one such a match which happened to have a nerve cracking finish. These are just a few of the many examples of how the game has impacted people’s life. The stadium roars with applause when their superstar walks into the field. One has to be there to believe how silent the crowd gets when the player gets “out”. Fans see the match even if takes place for 5 full days. The fun part is that even after you play for 5 days, you don’t get a result.

Gully Cricket – the fun part:
This is a form of cricket which is played on the streets, on the sands of the beach and on small playgrounds. For most cricket lovers, there is nothing like waking up in the morning at 4:30, riding your bike to the ground and reserving a “spot” for their team to play cricket. The rules are totally different and some rules don’t exist. You have 20 teams playing on a field that may be 75 % the size of a football ground. The fun part is that the game is so casual and yet every one gets so involved. It does get nasty sometimes, even to the extent of players beating up each other. But even after all this, the game ends on a “gentlemanly” note where people buy beer to sort out “issues”.

All said and done, the game has been and will continue to be one the few things that India is passionate about. The beauty with this game is that, though there are internal conflicts – whether political, class based or religion based – one of the things that the whole country is united in sharing its passion is – Cricket. So, eventually I told myself that, instead of analyzing the reasons, lets just PLAY THE GAME. To end my blog, I suggest that you visit this link which has a two minute video about how gully cricket is played (its actually a clip from a movie so don’t bother to find out what is being said): http://youtube.com/watch?v=-SLLVoKHBnw

From Order To Chaos

2007-10-24T12:31:36Z

“Everything changes except change itself”. These were the words of Mark Twain. I sometimes wonder how he coined these golden words that really define the present and the future. It must have been easy, if you really think about it. Change is something that I have been encountering from the day I came to the US. In fact, I am sure most of my Indian colleagues will accept with me. Of all the new concepts that I have come across, it is the concept of “Thriving on Chaos” that really intrigued me. Let me explain why.

]]>
One of the immediate comparisons that I could figure out when I heard of the concept of “Thriving on Chaos”, was the traffic situation in India. The reason being that it is not only confusion and disorderliness that exist on the roads, it is also what Tom Peters had defined chaos to be “Constant Change”. My father, an experienced doctor, has been driving on these roads for the past 25 years and one of the first lessons that he taught me when I took the wheel was to be defensive driver. What he means is that you have to anticipate what others on the road might do and prepare yourself to react accordingly. This means that we have to always be prepared for change. The change might be unexpected and fast. There are no lane disciplines followed- it is quite normal to see an old person riding his bicycle on a “lane” that is meant for buses and other heavy vehicles. You really don’t have to stop when there is red signal. In most of the lanes the “No Entry” board remains plainly as a board. There is no compulsion to wear your seat belts and people hardly follow speed limits. If you try to be The Samurai on the road and stick to rules, you would end up being the bad guy with everyone cursing you and forcing you to “stick to the rules”. Rules are meant to be broken. This situation exists not just on the road. It’s everywhere- from ticket “queues” to the crowd in buses and trains. Buses which have a capacity of holding just 45 people, ply everyday with over 100 people on board. EVERYDAY. It is acceptable to go to a meeting after the scheduled start time. We never really had to turn in things in time.

Well, the beauty of the whole system is that we Indians learnt to accept and adapt to these chaotic situations, everyday of our lives. We never complained. You might argue that it is this passive nature of the public that forces the situation to remain the same. Trust me, it requires a revolution to change the scenario completely. It is possible, though. The change is happening slowly but steadily. But my point here is that we saw a harmony in the chaos. It was our tremendous ability to keep our heads steady when everything around us was going havoc. We hardly found these situations CHAOTIC. But when we arrived in the US and came into the Center for Information and Communication Sciences, Ball State University, for the first time, it was a total change. Yes, we had to turn in to meetings on time. We had to submit assignments on time. We had to take initiative in doing things rather than wait for orders. The system of credits, GPA, online exams were all new to us. Things were changing everyday. We kept discovering new things and new systems. Constant change is what it is. We found this orderliness and systematization to be chaotic.

But I still remember one of the slides that Dr.Jones had shown us during the first day of class – “NO WHINING”. We never did. We fought our way up the learning curve and we are still fighting. It is even tougher for us, but we are taking up the challenge as we are expected to. We did do mistakes, we did fall down. But we learnt to pull ourselves up and dust ourselves and prepare ourselves for the next blow. We did learn from the mistakes. We had to change from arriving to meetings late to arriving on time and eventually arriving early. There is no easy way out and no shortcuts. I write this blog not to find excuses, I write this to just let people understand the kind of culture and chaos that we come from. I wanted to let people know that what might be chaotic to you might be in order to others. I ought to mention that we are finding it very comfortable working with the Americans and they have been very supportive and tolerant to us.

We know and understand that things are going to get tougher. With a total change in the weather expected (we haven’t lived in temperatures lower that 40 degree Fahrenheit), we are going to find it difficult. But I guess, we “mice” will eventually find our way through the maze and open the right door that gets us to the “cheese”. We will find the harmony in this chaos too and will continue to thrive on it

Well, talking of our reaction to the traffic in the US…..what can I say…… its “chaotic”.

Communication-The Human Way

2007-10-20T07:21:07Z

Communication-The Human Way
Human communication is a very vast subject and it is the human aspect of the subject that makes it very interesting. Communication occurs all the time and it is important to understand the concepts and barriers in order make communication effective. The nuance of emotion is also another important aspect of human communication that needs to be studied. There are many more interesting aspects of human communication that needs to be researched that will help us in understanding the difference between humans and machines. This is just an attempt to elaborate the difference.

]]>
Communication is the process by which information is exchanged between two bodies (humans, computers etc.) by various methods 1.Though the process of communication is common for that between machines and that between humans, the characteristics differ. Emotions, use of language, comprehensibility etc. are some of the important aspects of human communication that has generated a lot of research interests in this subject. The fact that every individual is different from others and every one has their own way of communicating and expressing their emotions makes the study of this subject even more interesting.
Human communication is basically divided into two types viz.,
1. Verbal Communication, and
2. Non-Verbal Communication
Verbal communication is the type of communication that deals with the exchange of words as the method of transmitting information. The language used is one of the important factors that determine the effectiveness of the information communicated.
Written communication is also a type of verbal communication. Here, as the name suggests, information is transferred through writing. Letters, emails etc. are some of the mediums used for verbal communication. During speaking, air is the most common medium used.

Non-verbal communication is defined as the type of communication where there are no words exchanged between the communicators but there is a message that is transmitted between them. Body language, paralanguage, gestures, signals, use of symbols, etc. are some types of communications that are non-verbal. Symbolic communication is the type of communication that uses symbols to communicate. For example, when a car has the indicator lights flickering, it communicates to us that the driver intends to steer the car to the right (or left), which means that we have to give way or slow down. There are no words exchanged, but the message is transmitted. The use of symbols, though, is very important in making communication effective. Non-symbolic communication 2 is the type where there are no explicit symbols used, but there lies a message that has to be transmitted. For instance, an abstract art or music does not explicitly use symbols to transmit message, but the receiver comprehends the art or music and derives a message from it. Like the old adage goes: “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Also, when a person does not respond to a message and maintains silence, it is amazing to know that there is a message that is being transmitted even in the silence.
Non-verbal communication is that aspect that helps us to even extend the communication process from human-human and animal-animal to human-animal. It is very fascinating to know that in Central Washington University, there exists an institute called Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI) 3 which is researching currently on developing communication skills in chimpanzees which can enable them to communicate with each other using the American Sign Language (ASL), which even helps humans to understand them. Also, the use of sign language has also helped the hearing and speech impaired people to communicate to others and within themselves and has opened the boundaries of their lives. Sign language is used even now as a means of teaching in schools for the deaf and the dumb.
Emotions, as I had mentioned earlier, is a very interesting aspect of human communication where the type of emotions used vary from person to person. This holds good especially when there exists oral communication. The stress on words, the intonations, tones etc. play an important role in this. For instance, “I would like to see you”, can be told as “I would like to see you.” where the stress is on the word “I”. This implies that the person who wants to see (sender) the other person (receiver) wants to stress that he wants to see the person for more important reasons than others. If the sentence is told as “I would like to see you”, it implies that the person wants to stress on the fact that the physical presence of the other person is a more important aspect here.
Tears, laughter, a smile, frown, hand movements, raising eyebrows, etc. are some of the types of emotions that humans use during communication. Emotions can also be shown in writing. The types of words used, the type of language used, exclamation and question marks etc. are some of the type of emotions used in writing.

Process of Communication:
The process of communication is a very simple concept. The sender and the receiver are needed to be identified first. Then,
1. The message needs to be encoded.
2. Medium chosen and transmission done.
3. The receiver needs to decode the message
4. The reply needs to be sent by the same process.

Though the concept is simple, not all communications are successful. There exists a communication gap in every communication and the wideness of the gap determines the ineffectiveness of the communication. More the gap, more ineffective the communication is and vice versa. So, some extensive research needs to be done in understanding the process of communication, in order to make it effective.

Shannon-Weaver model of Communication:
Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver developed a model for communication. As per their model, a message first originates from the information source and is transmitted through a transmitter and then eventually reaches the receiver. According to them, the message also gets disturbed by external factors called noise which alters the message and eventually can result in ineffective communication.
This is a very helpful model in understanding the difficulties in communication and the reasons for the communication gap.

Information Source ========> Message Sent Transmitter ========> Signal Sent Sources of Noise ========> Signal Received Receiver ========> Message Received Destination

Fig.1 Shannon – Weaver Model of Communication 4

For effective communication to exist between the two there are a lot of factors that must be given attention to. The various factors are language, medium, and relevance of the message and the ability of the receiver to comprehend the message.
For communication to be effective, it is necessary that the language used is understood by the receiver. This is the first step for effective communication. Language doesn’t necessarily mean the verbal language.
The medium used also plays an important role in effective communication. For example, when the sender encodes the message through text (typing) and chooses the medium as e-mail or fax, the receiver should also be having the same facility so that he is able to decode the message and more importantly he must be able to reply through the same medium. If the medium used is not appropriate for the message, then communication becomes ineffective.
The emotions used while delivering the message is very important especially during verbal communication. It is even more important when the two bodies are talking to each other in person.
It is very important that the receiver is able to understand the context and the relevance of the message that sender is exchanging. For example, it is inappropriate for the sender to speak about history in a class of telecommunication unless the receiver is able to understand the context. This aspect lays primarily in the hands of the sender to see to it that the relevance and the context of the message is properly understood for effective communication.

Ability of the receiver to understand the message is also another important factor. A very simple example is that we can talk about the concept of Integral calculus to an 8 year old kid. This concept can extend to higher levels depending of the complexity of the message and the ability of the receiver.

Conclusion:
It will not be possible to cover all the areas of human communication in one paper. As mentioned earlier, this is just an attempt to help us understand the prominence of communication everywhere and the factors that make it effective. Understanding and applying these concepts will definitely make communication more effective.

References:
1. Wikipedia , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication
2. http://stevefournier01.tripod.com/hist/hist-6.html
3. Central Washington University - http://www.cwu.edu/~cwuchci/
4. http://home.earthlink.net/~leemarrs/emd/symb2.html