topic Re: What Is Happening To Communication??? in Community Chat

What Is Happening To Communication???

jubilant — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 13:13:04 GMT

I know this article is long but I thought it was interesting. I am concerned about how we relate to others in our era. I find it frustrating at times. I think we all need to try to understand each other better. There are some great articles online on..... What younger people need to know about older people..... and.... What older people need to know about younger people. I would have posted them but they are way to long. Below is part of an article I read that is not exactly about that but gives good insight, I think, into some of the why's and wherefore's.

"During each of these three major communication eras, socio-economic and cultural life were deeply affected by the dominant medium of communication. As each new mode of communication had an impact on society, it dominated those which had preceded it, not obsolescing them, but dramatically changing their character and the use to which they were put. Speech or the oral tradition naturally survived both literacy and electricity but its function changed. It retained its dominance for conversation and everyday communication; however, it was no longer used as the repository of a culture’s traditions as it had been in Homer’s time, nor the means of spreading news from one village or country to another. The wandering minstrel who had conveyed information across both space and time was replaced by the written record which spanned space through the courier and time through the library or archive. With writing, the spoken word took on new functions, sometimes becoming an art form in the guise of poetry and theatre.

Writing also underwent enormous changes with the advent of electricity. The modern newspaper, as McLuhan points out, is a product of the printing press and the telegraph. Electricity and the instantaneous flow of information changed the psychic environment of authors, causing them, in McLuhan’s words, to “live mythically and in depth” (McLuhan 1964, vii). As a consequence, writers became concerned with psychology, anthropology, and sociology. The psychological novel and stream-of-consciousness technique were born.

Electricity produced another unexpected flip that affected the spoken word, namely a revival of the oral tradition in the art, music, and literary world of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as exemplified by jazz and the use of African masks in Cubism. The structure of education also changed with the advent of each new mode of communication. With writing, education was transformed from the apprenticeship mode of learning on the job to formal schooling. The alphabet, abstract science, formal logic, and codified law gave rise to the academies of higher learning that appeared in ancient Babylon, Egypt, and Greece. The printing press gave rise to the modern school system of mass education and the assembly-line style of mass production.

The mass media of radio, television and telecommunications shrunk the world to the dimensions of a global village.

Neither Harold Innis or Marshall McLuhan lived long enough to see the two post-1980 revolutions of personal computing brought about by microcomputers or the World Wide Web made possible by the Internet. If they had had the opportunity to observe these two phenomena I believe they would have divided history in to four distinct eras rather than the three they chose. I believe, like me, they would have added a fourth era by making a distinction between the era of electric media of mass communication from the era of electronic media of mainframes, microcomputers and the Internet. While the dissemination of electronic information parallels in some ways that of electric information there is a very important difference. The users of electric media are merely passive consumers of information whereas the users of electronic media can interact actively with the information they access".

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Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

jubilant — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 10:55:32 GMT

This cartoon was shown with the article....visually thought provoking

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

AuntG — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 11:14:58 GMT

I would ask what has happened to attention spans? We were watching the college basketball games when an announcer mentioned that the family of a player was finally getting to see him play in person. The camera then panned to the mom sitting there watching the game. Next to her were two other sons playing on their electronic devices. Yeah, they sure were thrilled to be watching their brother.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

jubilant — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 01:24:59 GMT

From a baby boomer perspective, I would like the millenials to understand that words and thoughts don't come to me quite as fast as they used to. I would like them to give me more than 5 or 10 seconds to get out what I have to say. Often times they see you struggling to do that and they think they should just give you the word they think you're looking for . I think they mean well but if they would just give us a tad more time we might just come up with it on our own. Then again, we might not!! In all fairness to the millenials, older people can go on and on at times. Probably because they are lonely but we do have to watch that we don't bore people to death or tell a clerk about our day when people are waiting in line! I think older people and younger people need to be together more so we can learn from each other. I am not seeing a whole lot of that today and I think it is sad.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

sashamatthews — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 11:50:02 GMT

Let's be honest: there are people who want to eliminate cursive writing from the school curriculum. American and World history classes are practically non-existent. Life without a calculator? Unheard of! Society evolves, but there are some things which should remain constant: respect for where we came from, respect for the people who created our great country and its core values, respect for where we are today and where we can go from here.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

jubilant — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 11:55:22 GMT

@sashamatthews wrote:
Let's be honest: there are people who want to eliminate cursive writing from the school curriculum. American and World history classes are practically non-existent. Life without a calculator? Unheard of! Society evolves, but there are some things which should remain constant: respect for where we came from, respect for the people who created our great country and its core values, respect for where we are today and where we can go from here.

@sashamatthews I so agree with this.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

tototwo — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 12:06:38 GMT

I agree with @sashamatthews -- what this world and country is lacking is respect. (a shout out to Aretha - ha) Respect for other people, other people's things, and other people's feelings. That might fix some of our communication deficits.

We're also sorely lacking in character, civility, and politeness... but that's a whole other thread.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

violann — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 12:15:05 GMT

@tototwo wrote:
I agree with @sashamatthews -- what this world and country is lacking is respect. (a shout out to Aretha - ha) Respect for other people, other people's things, and other people's feelings. That might fix some of our communication deficits.

We're also sorely lacking in character, civility, and politeness... but that's a whole other thread.

YES!

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

deeva — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 12:15:21 GMT

@jubilant

There maybe some valid points in your post.
It would be much easier to read with paragraphs.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

CalminHeart — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 12:21:30 GMT

Communication practices have changed countless times in the last century, let alone over human existence. It's up to everyone to adapt and find ways to effectively communicate.

I am a senior and don't have issues communicating with young people. They look at life differently than I might and I learn from them. I don't have to like it or agree but I'm open to listening and learning. Some prefer texting so I text. They call me, I call them. Some of my youngest family members are overseas and blog so I read their blogs. It is what it is. The key is to be open minded and develop relationships no matter the age.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

Barbara-QVC — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 12:20:06 GMT

This post has been removed by QVC because it is going off topic about racism

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

Foxxee — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 02:08:45 GMT

"I am concerned about how we relate to others in our era. I think we all need to try to understand each other better."

Being concerned, even making recommendations are great in theory, but as I see it, not reality. The real problem is a distrusting population, one caused by a much larger issue.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

jellyBEAN — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 13:02:50 GMT

I notice younger people inserting the word 'like' into like, about every 3 or 4 words they say, which like, really annoys me, because like, why would someone like, feel the need, like to say that, like every few words?

Another communication annoyance for me is 'Right?' We've had a lot of rain lately. Right? The store was busy today. Right? That was a good sandwich. Right?

I'm sure us older folks have our quirks in language as well. George Carlin (late comedian) did a fantastic skit on language and words. It's gotta be on utube somewhere. I guess I'm from that generation but I'm still alive and kickin.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

jubilant — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 13:19:10 GMT

@deeva I divided the paragraphs for you and others. Hope it helps!

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

tototwo — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 13:30:11 GMT

Made me laugh, @jellyBEAN -- I'm in my 70's and I find myself saying "like" all the time and I don't mean to. It makes me mad at myself. But, the more I try to not say it, the more I say it. Ack!

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

jubilant — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 13:35:44 GMT

Even at church the older people have their Sunday School class and the younger have theirs. I would like to see these classes combined once in a while. We can and should be learning from each other. Yes, we lived in different times. Let's listen to how it was for us and how it is for them. Maybe then we could get somewhere.

I hope we are not too far gone for that but, I must say, I'm having some doubts. I had grand parents and great grandparents who (most of them) lived a long time. I feel privileged to have had them. I learned so much from being with them. Once they got really old they didn't say much but what they didn't say, somehow and in some way must have registered in the way they lived their lives.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

Spurt — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 14:13:52 GMT

According to experts, one of the problems in society and communication today is "nomophoia"---- it’s generally agreed that nomophobia presents a concern to mental health. Nomophobia represents a type of phone dependence or addiction. This ends up interfering with the development of the person's daily life (physical, physiological, psychological, social problems, among others). It has an impact both emotionally and physically.....It's estimated that 66% of the population suffers from this condition and it's growing...an alarming 85% check their phones even while having conversations with friends and family, technology addiction statistics confirm.

POSSIBLE SYMPTOMS OF NOMOPHOBIA

Emotional symptoms include:

worry, fear, or panic when you think about not having your phone or being unable to use it
anxiousness and agitation if you have to put your phone down or know you won’t be able to use it for a while
panic or anxiety if you briefly can’t find your phone
irritation, stress, or anxiety when you can’t check your phone

Physical symptoms include:

tightness in your chest
trouble breathing normally
trembling or shaking
increased sweating
feeling faint, dizzy, or disoriented
rapid heartbeat

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

software — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 14:09:13 GMT

Communication has always been a problem, the new forms of communication might make it more obvious

Good communication takes practice because every situation is different. It's learned.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

Shanus — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 14:59:57 GMT

Coincidently, I just had a long talk with DS, DD and my granddaughters who have just started mostly emailing me (computers for school) or texting me. I asked them to use the phone to CALL.

We seem to be victims of the cell phone. Yes they ARE a neccessity, but how many times a day do you see people checking their email, looking down to text...fingers flying through the letters.

My Girls do not write thank you notes for gifts...I get a text. I finally told them that's not acceptable and sent them each a box of thank you notes. OMG! You should see their handwriting!!! They rarely use it.

Re: What Is Happening To Communication???

CrazyDaisy — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 15:22:21 GMT

Modes of communication will always be changing, writing to phone calls to texting. That is irrelevant. People do not want to listen. People want to know they are being heard. Don't have to agree just not dismissed.