The Internet was set up to help us pass information -- which, in this case means unambiguously coded messages. More recently, however, the focus has shifted from passing coded messages to chat, as housed on sites like YouTube Inc. , Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), and MySpace -- as well as chat lines, texting, and the insistent questioning "Where are you?" on mobile phones. This shift has significantly revised the understanding of communication we have worked with since before the beginnings of the Internet.
Over the past 60 years, our understanding of what communication means and what it is for has been profoundly shaped (I would say distorted) by the "Mathematical Theory of Communication" first published by Claude E. Shannon in 1948. Shannon brought to communication the approach of an engineer concerned with the flow of signals down lines, which he treated according to the metaphor of (physical) energy. We owe to Shannon and his theory (commonly referred to as "Information Theory") a great deal of what has allowed the development of the technology of computing (used in its most general sense). But we also owe to Shannon's work the now-dated notion that communication is only about passing unambiguously coded messages.
Etymologically, the word "communication" contains, within it, notions of communion and community, which were forgotten in the enthusiasm surrounding Shannon's work. These are now being recognized as important by those for whom communication is about sharing and about community: Those who say to their friends "I text, therefore I am" and who ask "Do you hear me, are you there?"
Shannon's theory derived to a large extent from the work of Norbert Wiener, whose own spin on this work was presented slightly earlier in 1948, in "Cybernetics: or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine." Although Wiener didn't actually write all that much about communication in his book, it is always implicitly present, for there can be no control without communication (of the control intention).
Cyberneticians quickly came to understand that Shannon's model was particularly limited. Two British cyberneticians (Donald MacKay and Gordon Pask), in particular, developed what we may think of as richer models than Shannon's. Pask's model, for example, was called "Conversation Theory" and, having been developed since the early 1950s, was formalized in 1975. Rather than rely on coded communication, Pask centered his theory on the idea that humans each build their own understanding of meaning behind communicational gestures, such as speech. In a Paskian conversation, the key notion is that each of us builds our own understanding, and this is how we share. So Pask's argument in favor of conversation (rather than coding) as a model for communication brings with it the enrichment that is centrally concerned with sharing: that is, with communion and community.
Where Information Theory may help us pass coded messages more effectively, Pask's Conversation Theory insists on the richer understanding of communication currently growing on the Internet and with mobile phones. This communication is without purpose in terms of sending information. Rather, its purpose is to be together -- in other words, to share.
What cybernetics predicted, and then brought to modern communications, was not only the basis on which we can efficiently transmit coded messages; it also brought the sense of community and of sharing that we now see on the edge of taking over. In this respect, cybernetics offers us much more than just mechanical communication. As Wiener's subtitle for his book claims, it also brings us those human qualities that are so important to us as we ask, "Are you there, are we together?"
— Ranulph Glanville, President Elect of the American Society for Cybernetics; Professor of Architecture and Cybernetics in the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London
Thanks for your post. The advent of the internet has seen many traditional values/theories go into oblivion as news ways of unlimited interractions are being presented to us. Being a multifacet media, i do agree with you that the internet has seriously challenge the traditional communication theories. Never in the history of manking has a single medium offers us with unlimited communication possibilities as the internet does. One traditional communication theory which i find relevant to the internet era is that of technological determinism:
What do you have to say about the new communication theories that are being develop to take cognizance of the versatility of the internet? A case in point is Computer mediated communication theories: Computer mediaed communicatontheories
Thank you very much for these responses. I apologise for delay in responding, and for just writing one reply. I am travelling and internet access is difficult. I had not expected my piece to be posted until today.
Firstly, to KimSolez:
I think you and I are moving in the same area. Of course there are problems to be solved by hard engineering approaches such as so-called "Information Theory". The difficulty for me is the way that so many of these approaches have come to be taken to be all that is significant and/or of interest. My interest is to differentiate cybernetics from Information Theory, and to show one advantage of a cybernetic approach. That it is an approach means that it is not everything: just a rich way of understanding.
Secondly, to GerwigR:
I think you also make my point, but in what may possibly be an accidental and obverse manner. The engineering is (relatively) easy, as you say. But this easiness is no reason to limit ourselves, which is what I believe has happened. This is not an engineering problem, and to restrict it to engineering discourse is to do it a disservice. Communication happens between people and through all sorts of media. The notion of bandwidth and channel is not always appropriate! This is specially so in the case of communication, our understanding of which has been profoundly restricted by the Information Theory approach (just as it has, in certain areas, been vastly aided).
Thirdly, to Raza,
Thank you for your enrichment and agreement. Twitter looks interesting.
Indeed cybernatics brings us much more than what can be done through mechanical communication of messages. Indeed human aspect of communication is very important and companies have been enjoying success just by "exploiting" a typical aspect of human communication
Twitter is another notable addition to such companies as all of its business revolves around what are you doing
David Britton, professor of physics at Glasgow University and a leading figure in the grid project, believes grid technologies could “revolutionise” society. “With this kind of computing power, future generations will have the ability to collaborate and communicate in ways older people like me cannot even imagine,”
We all will just have to get used to lightning speed, as say compared to our outdated copper cable plants which deliver data : at what speed, " the speed of sound "
You can read it here at the TIMES ON LINE Coming soon: Superfast Internet.
16 core Tukwila at speed Big, red, candy like button
The mechanics of implementing Shannon's work in a communication system, is rather strightforward and predictable. Pask's work, while being richer, is fraught with how to engage his concept in the realworld model; keeping all the language process the same for all participants in human understanding. To that end my experience is system design, has been to limit the transmission bandwidth to only contain 15 to 20 percent of the full engagement message. The balance is not sent, but exists as a template for both sender and reciever. You can understand this now in your GUI display and the flash version on your screen. The metering world ( charges for service ) would not exist without shannon's work. As for the richness of Pask's concepts of hi-fidelity high-bandwidth full engagement message; we may have to wait for this future; while his moral message is repeated by Cybernetics.
It is important to respect the primacy of the higher elements of the human spirit when we think about communication.Consider the concept of the reverse Turing test, humans proving they are not machines by doing things we value which no machine could do. More and more human activities fail this test.Built into our concept of communication should be those elements that make us uniquely human and that cannot be encoded in words and formulas, and therefore cannot be taught to machines, ever.These things are by their very nature hard to define, but we should never lose sight of them.They include going where no one has gone before and flying by the seat of our pants in new situations."Do not follow where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson(A different kind of "Into the Wild"!)
Somehow, somewhere, the definitions and theories of communication have to include these elements.They are the sorts of things about which we might say “The Indians have a word for it”, but actually they don’t.They are crucial to our humanness and therefore crucial to our communications.They are those things which fill us most with emotion, and give our lives purpose.They are the reason we come together and share. The more we have these things the richer our lives are.They are the reason we must communicate, so no definition or theory of communication can exist without them.
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