Communication is the most complex and elevating achievement of
human beings. Most people spend up to 70 percent of our waking
hours engaged in some form of communication. Listening and
responding to the messages of others occupies much of this time;
the rest is taken up by talking, reading, and writing. An
additional consideration is the rich assortment of nonverbal cues
humans share, which also constitute a form of communication. All
together, the stream of verbal and nonverbal information that
bombards our senses is composed of as many as 2,000 distinguishable
units of interaction in a single day. The kinds of interaction
change constantly: morning greetings, cereal labels, bus signs,
charts, traffic lights, hate stares, graffiti, coffee shop chat,
gestures, laughter, and head nods: The themes are endless. All of
this constitutes subject matter for the study of communication.
The book seeks to acquaint students with a basic understanding
of the process of human communication. The breadth and scope of
subject matter is adaptable to a number of approaches to the first
course in communication, whether theoretical, practical,
contemporary, or traditional in orientation.
The framework of this book introduces five topics of central
interest to the field of communication theory. Part I describes the
process of communication as it unfolds in face-to-face
environments. Part II considers the symbolic significance of
interpersonal behavior. Part III examines the organization of
communicative acts and shows why human interactions tend to become
more synchronous over time. Part IV explores the complex problem of
understanding other people, demonstrating the tendency of
understanding to become intersubjective. Part V accounts for the
communicative significance of several basic human
environments--communities, organizations, media, institutions, and
culture.
General
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