INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION THEORY AND PRACTICE

The functioning of the 7,106 living languages in the world seems an exercise in
madness, but all that “noise” makes sense if it is perceived as part of a larger process
described as “communication,” a process involving all types of information exchange
solutions employed on Earth.
- Etymology: communicatio (Latin) = communication, sharing; communicare
(Latin)= to share, to divide with, to communicate.
– Communication: the buzz word of the latest decades.
– After more than 600,000 years of spontaneous communication we started to
consider it as a domain of study:
• Aristotle –The Rhetoric – 4th c. BC; the discipline focusing on the ability
to use language effectively becomes a compulsory subject of study in
the educational systems active in Ancient Greece and Rome as well as
in the schools and universities established during the Middle Ages,
Renaissance, the Modern Period, and the following centuries;
• Ch.Darwin – The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals –
1872, opens a new perspective on comm., involving sciences (founds
ethology, contributes to psychology);
• The 20th c.: contribution of the theory of information and mathematics
to the study of communication: Harry Nyquist, Claude Shannon, and
Norbert Wiener.
• The 20th c. and 21st c.: communication as an interdisciplinary domain
attracting contributions from other areas of study as well: genetics,
physiology, neurology, psychiatry, bioethics, psychology, sociology,
law, cultural anthropology, theology, philosophy, cryptography,
semiotics and linguistics.
– Examples from personal life: participate in a selection interview.
– Examples from domains; how these domains are affected by communication:
A. Data indicating the importance of communication:
1. Politics: politicians and voters: in democratic countries, politicians need
votes in order to be elected and require public support for their initiatives.

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2. Economy:
• Good relationships among employees allow the company to function
successfully.
• Advertising campaigns create the image of the company and help in
selling its products.
• Smiling schools established in Japan: participants are supposed to sell
more goods and to sign more contracts.
3. The military (armed forces: army, navy, air force):
• Soldiers should always follow orders; feedback is not encouraged.
• The digital battlefield: the position of the participants in a military
operation is known and orders are received quickly by all those
involved; the friendly fire is significantly reduced.
• The psychological warfare: to determine the enemies to abandon the
fight by undermining their moral and showing them that they cannot win
the war.
4. Religion:
• Traditional pattern: attending the church periodically, participating in
the Mass and talking to God by praying (to pray, prayer).
• The church and the use of communication science and technology: radio
stations, TV stations, newspapers, the internet.
5. Science:
• Communication and the evolution of scientific knowledge: preserving
the knowledge and exchanging data as quickly as possible.
- Loss of data: The library of Alexandria; Roman concrete - 476 AD-
1414 AD;
- Gutenberg’s printing press -1439; electronic data storage devices –
EMP effect
• Communication science provides the other domains with the necessary
know-how: communications consultants, PR officers, HR specialists,
spokespersons, communications managers, social media managers,
sales representatives and brand managers, to mention a few of the job
opportunities offered to communication science graduates.

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 • The study of communication, the shaping of the human species and the
development of the individual:
- E.g.: the competition between the Cro-Magnon man (early Homo
Sapiens Sapiens) and the Neanderthal man; both represent
subspecies of Homo Sapiens; the difference in vocalization capacity
may have lead to the disappearance of the latter some 40,000 years
ago.
- E.g.: the feral child is unable to evolve into a human being, he/she
continues to walk on all fours, to eat using the mouth like an animal,
and he/she is not capable of learning any human language.
- E.g.: the psychological damage identified in prisoners kept in
solitary confinement or in computer addicts spending more than 8
hours/day with their PCs.
- E.g.: the road rage incidents involving car drivers and the absence of
rage among pedestrians: the role of nonverbal communication.
- E.g.: the laughter schools in India: laughter not only a form of
communication but also a healing method (laughter therapy), a
fitness exercise and a mood changer.
- E.g.: the introduction of emoticons and smileys in e-mail messages:
the need for non verbal input.
• Emoticons = textual portrayal of a writer’s mood or facial
expression.
B. Definition of communication: a process involving a SENDER, a MESSAGE, and a
RECEIVER; the Sender encodes the Message; the Receiver decodes the Message,
stores it and later retrieves it.
For human communicators the process of communication is viewed as a complex set
of interactions, transacted (negotiated) across a wide spectrum of cultural and
situational contexts.
• The process involves:
- Time and space;
- Biological, psychological, social, metaphysical and cosmic aspects;
- Use of semiotic units such as signs, symbols and signals:

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 • Sign: letter, a word, a gesture that has a meaning different from the item
perceived; denotation, or literal meaning, or dictionary meaning.
• Symbol: based on physical or functional similarity between the symbol
and what it stands for; e.g.: lion: animal living in certain parts of the
world and lion as symbol of power and monarchy; connotation.
• Signal: a simple sign used in a particular situation and having only one
meaning: traffic lights, the electric bulb and Pavlov’s dog (conditioned
reflex experiment).
C. Classification of communicational situations according to various criteria:
1. Who communicates (who can generate and decode messages): human
communication, animal c., plant c., and extraterrestrial c.
2. Who communicates with whom: humans with humans, intrapersonal
communication - an individual with himself/herself: internal monologue, or
dialogue, dream analysis; humans with animals, humans with plants, humans
with extraterrestrials (The search for extraterrestrial intelligence –SETI;
Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence – CETI; the latter attempts to
initiate a dialogue with intelligent extraterrestrials by actively sending out coded
signals at specific target stars, star clusters, or galaxies.).
3. Means used: natural means (e.g.: voice), artificial means (e.g.: telephone,
Internet); verbal and nonverbal means (e.g.: gesture).
4. Reception of messages (classification determined by the senses used): auditory
communication, visual c., olfactory c., taste c., tactile c., extrasensory c.
(telepathy, remote viewing).
D. Hot issues:
1. Manipulation: negotiate, control or influence cleverly and skillfully; media and
photo manipulation: selection, omission, distortion, invention; brainwashing: sleep
deprivation, starvation, torture, repetition of the same message; advertising and
subliminal messages; propaganda; charisma.
2. Obtaining information without the person’s consent: electronic surveillance and
interception of private communications – N.S.A.; torture: waterboarding, showing
the torture instruments.
3. Communication issues in the Health Care System: poor communication or lack of
communication; participants: patients, HCP, managers.

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4. Are you a good communicator?