After reading chapter 2 and learning what the four perspectives of communication are I can now relate some of those views to real life situations. A lot of times we hear individuals saying that one person have copied their vocabulary, style, hairstyles, and etc. It leaves many of us feeling as if we are no longer individuals because certain trends come along where we are all almost the same. One perspective that I easily linked to those feelings is the pragmatic perspective. According to the book, the pragmatic perspective is when “communication consists of a system of interlocking, independent behaviors that become patterned over time” (pg. 31).
Over time I do believe that communication becomes like a patterned interaction. Often times when a group establishes a certain language and behaviors it becomes a routine for them to always communicate in those ways. Sometimes other groups will like the way the other group communicates and will begin to pattern their own communication style after the other group. For example, my group of friends usually uses different words or phrases to describe different situations and we’ll later hear another group using those same words or phrases. Due to this, I do think communication is like a game. Different groups are the players and the way they choose to use their languages and behaviors are the moves used in the game. Depending on how groups use their moves to interact with each other determines the outcome and if those moves were successful in communication or not. It is like communication is a cycle of similar interactions.
Hi Damon,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post and found it very helpful and interesting reading your take on communication becoming a patterned interaction. I found your examples of group interaction becoming a game and seeing ourselves and friends as players was a good description. Looking at communication in a cycle definitely makes sense and the connections we back with others widens to cycle. I think it's important to be able to communicate with others outside our normal groups and change up our pattern sometimes! Thanks for the post, I hope you're having a good weekend! Good Job!