December 1991
1. Definition: Communication: The effect or relationship one being has on or with another.
Kinds: Static: One thing contiguous with another.
Dynamic: One thing affecting another.
Static communication is always reciprocal. Dynamic communication may or may not be reciprocal.
Intentional communication = agentive communication.
2. Definition: Human communication: One human being affecting the body of another human being.
Static human communication: One human body being contiguous to another. Dynamic human communication: Acting with one’s body to change the body of another human being.
Kinds of active human communication:
- a. Visual affect
- b. Auditory affect
- c. Substance affect
- 1) Taste
- 2) Smell
- 3) Chemical
- 4) Solid object
- 5) Addition or deprivation of heat
- d. Kinetic communication (hitting, pushing, etc.)
Prominent myth about communication: Human communication is the exchange of ideas.
3. Spiritual communication: One (at least partly spiritual) being affecting another (at least partly spiritual) being by non-physical means.
Principle kinds:
- a. Good: Radiating the good spirit, thus influencing other beings to do godly (righteous) things.
- b. Evil: Radiating the evil spirit, thus influencing other beings to do evil (selfish) things.
Postulate: Human beings are always spiritual beings and always under the influence of at least one other spirit, either the spirit of God or the spirit of Satan, or both, plus the possible spiritual influence of other persons.
4. Communication between human beings is always a combination of human communication and spiritual communication. (The effect of spiritual communication gives rise to the myth of transfer of ideas.)
5. Agent communication always has specific parts:
- a1. Sender intention: what the sender desires to accomplish.
- b1. Sender main idea: the mental image which prompts the sender’s action.
- c1. Sender assertion: the physical action launched by the sender to affect the target of communication.
- d1. Sender affect: the net result of what the sender accomplished in asserting.
- a2. Receiver intention: what the receiver desires to achieve as a response to what the receiver believes the sender intends.
- b2. Receiver main idea: what the receiver thinks as a result of what the receiver thinks the sender had as a main idea.
- c2. Receiver assessment: the urgency or importance or strength which the receiver places on the communication from the sender in light of what he or she knows and imagines.
- d2. Receiver affect: the specific response of the receiver to the sender’s communication.
6. Postulates of communication:
- a. To exist is to communicate. Not to affect anything nor to be affected by anything is not to exist. All real beings communicate with something other than themselves. Reality is the sum of all communications.
- b. How a being communicates defines its being, since anything exists only in communicating.
- c. In a given situation, one being may not act, but only be acted upon by another. But to be a being, it must be potentially able to act. If it is never able to act for itself, it is not a separate being but only a part of the being which acts upon it.
- d. The effects of communication upon agents are effects only of accident. Ordinary human communication never does or can change an agent’s essence. Only God can change a being’s essence.
- e. An agent being has two potentials, one good, the other evil. The choices and actions (the communications) of the agent fix upon that agent one of the two potentials. Thus the agent partly creates himself or herself.
- f. Salvation is communication from the Savior to an agent who has consistently chosen good over evil, inasmuch as he or she was able to do so, to make the person wholly good (holy).
- g. Agentive communication, sending or receiving is always good or evil. (There are no value-neutral actions.)
- h. Communication is always an entropic process. More is sent than is ever received.
7. Total communication: Two beings interact so completely that they become as one being.
- Satan attempts total communication, but cannot succeed long run.
- God never attempts total communication, but honors the agency of the other person.
- Humans who follow Satan attempt to control, mold, shape other persons or things.
- Humans who follow God always respect the individuality and agency of every person and thing with which they cooperate.
8. Ways to improve communication:
- a. Communicate in more ways than before.
- b. Communicate about more things.
- c. Communicate in more and different environments.
- d. Be redundant.
- e. Communicate only good (unselfishness).
Exercises for communication:
1. Why is no human communication intelligible?
2. When is there too much communication? Give examples.
3. When is there too little communication? Give examples.
4. What is the connection between communication and reality?
5. What is the connection between communication and morality?
6. What is the connection between communication and epistemology?
7. What are examples of total communication?
8. How does one communicate love?
9. Devise a strategy for communicating to any other person your concept of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Implement your strategy. Test and evaluate your strategy. Learn something from the process.
- a. Your strategy:
- b. Your implementation:
- c. Your test and evaluation:
- d. What you learned about communication.