Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Three Levels of Communication : Part 1
We can understand communication better by looking at three levels of it. We have to understand the three levels, but also how they relate to one another. I find this easiest to explain through a construction metaphor - especially for the third level.
The first level of communication is vocabulary. To communicate, you need words to form sentences and paragraphs. Your communication could be limited if the words you know aren't sophisticated enough to tell your story. On the other hand, you communication could also be limited if you choose words that are too sophisticated - you could make the reader work too hard to get the meaning.
How sophisticated should your words be? It depends on how specialized your application is.
In construction, everything is built out of materials. In fact, there is a whole field of study for developing new materials. At the high-end today, that field is producing exotic materials like carbon nanotubes and aerogel for NASA. The key to remember is that at some point in the last couple of centuries, that field produced things like aluminum refining for use in everything from airplanes to soda cans. In the last several centuries, that field produced things we now consider basic, like steel. So, for a long time, materials held up construction in every area.
Nowadays, if you want to build a house, you probably won't use anything uncommon. The scientific study of materials is only needed for really special applications, like nuclear warheads or spaceships. The study of the field still exists, but it's for increasingly specialized use.
Vocabulary is like that. As a young person, your primary task was building up vocabulary. As an adult, you continue to acquire new vocabulary, because it's interesting and possibly useful for communication in special fields, but for the most part, you have all the vocabulary you need. You are working toward how to put the vocabulary together in the most effective way.
That leads us to the second level of communication, narrative, which I'll explore in the next post.
Three Levels of Communication : Part 1
We can understand communication better by looking at three levels of it. We have to understand the three levels, but also how they relate to one another. I find this easiest to explain through a construction metaphor - especially for the third level.
The first level of communication is vocabulary. To communicate, you need words to form sentences and paragraphs. Your communication could be limited if the words you know aren't sophisticated enough to tell your story. On the other hand, you communication could also be limited if you choose words that are too sophisticated - you could make the reader work too hard to get the meaning.
How sophisticated should your words be? It depends on how specialized your application is.
In construction, everything is built out of materials. In fact, there is a whole field of study for developing new materials. At the high-end today, that field is producing exotic materials like carbon nanotubes and aerogel for NASA. The key to remember is that at some point in the last couple of centuries, that field produced things like aluminum refining for use in everything from airplanes to soda cans. In the last several centuries, that field produced things we now consider basic, like steel. So, for a long time, materials held up construction in every area.
Nowadays, if you want to build a house, you probably won't use anything uncommon. The scientific study of materials is only needed for really special applications, like nuclear warheads or spaceships. The study of the field still exists, but it's for increasingly specialized use.
Vocabulary is like that. As a young person, your primary task was building up vocabulary. As an adult, you continue to acquire new vocabulary, because it's interesting and possibly useful for communication in special fields, but for the most part, you have all the vocabulary you need. You are working toward how to put the vocabulary together in the most effective way.
That leads us to the second level of communication, narrative, which I'll explore in the next post.
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