Communication Theory

I read the section "Communication Theory" on pages 467 -470 and appreciated how Griffin outlined the strengths/weaknesses of all theories by sharing Karl Weick's clock to illustrate the trade-offs. One sentence summed it up well: "As you can see, no one position can combine the three ideals, and to move closer to one is to move farther away from at least one other." The three criteria that Karl Weick speaks of for his "Clock Face Model" are general, accurate and simple. If a theory is general and accurate, it cannot be simple. Likewise if it is general and simple, it will be less accurate. And, if it is accurate and simple, it will not be general.

Chapter 36

I enjoyed reading Griffin's "cause for pause" at the end of every thread in this last chapter. He throws in his candid two-cents worth and comments on his own experience or background in dealing with the certain thread.

The one that stood out to me today was "Dialogue," because Griffin admits that he did his best to capture what it really is but struggled because of the complexity and depth of the term. Dialogue as defined on page 482 is " Transparent conversation that often creates unanticipated relational outcomes due to parties' profound respect for disparate voices."

The thing that blew my mind the most was in his "Cause for Pause" at the end of this thread's section when Griffin states that "probably less that 1 in 1,000 conversations would qualify as dialogue." I was surprised by that at first, but not so much as I thought about it further. The US is a very independent culture and sticks to a lot of surface level communication. Only with the people that are truly close to us or people that we have an interest in talking to for some specific reason do we open up and get beyond superficial topics.

I think it gave me a different perspective on relationships as a whole; I bet that if we have more meaningful "dialogue" on a regular basis we would enrich our relationships across the board.

Chapter 35 - Muted Group Theory

This was another eye opening chapter, to again put myself in the shoes of others. Its fascinating that our language is inherently masculine and because of this men control discussion. Even acknowledging the women aren't on a "level playing field" illustrate how the use of language is male-driven in that the phrase is an athletic expression of competitive team sports.

As a guy, I don't even realize that our language is like this, I've been immersed in it so long that I don't know any different. When I take a step back and realize how much of our language discourages women from speaking out in a public setting I understand frustrations that women feel.

Even in the internet, women are subject to the technologically elite who are overwhelmingly male. The hope was that the internet would be a place where an equal voice could be heard, but the framers of the this technology have created it based on masculine standards which pose another hurdle.

Chapter 34 - Standpoint theory

I enjoyed reading about standpoint theory and the author's points about gender viewpoints and women's lives.

I think about life in general and putting ourselves in the shoes of others and seeking to understand their standpoint rather than only our own. It is so easy to get wrapped up in our own lives adn forget that our actions have direct effect on those around us. Maybe good, maybe bad, but always an effect. When you realize the perspective of others I think it gives us a wiser point of view. Not so narrow minded. Our own universe isn't as small as we think when we see through the lives of others. Everyone has a story, everyone has a job to do, everyone has an agenda, and everyone has hopes, dreams, fears. One of the great things about understanding Communication is that it provides perspective for the way we live our lives. All of a sudden we see what humans go through in an effort to understand and be understood.

This chapter was one of those chapters that gives great perspective and insight about the lives of others and again allows to see through the eyes of others.

Chapter 29 - Spiral of Silence

This chapter described what all of us go through to some degree, the desire to be heard and feel affirmed in our opinions, or more so, the fear that we won't be affirmed, therefore we keep quiet. I have been in this situation many times, where I don't agree with what is taking place in a meeting or the direction a group is going. Many times, because a group feeds off each other's energy, a poor decision can be made without anyone realizing what's happening. Instead of speaking up and shedding some light on the poor direction they are heading, I keep quiet instead of going against the tide - until the right moment, that is. When it gets to the point where it is abundantly clear that the group is way off base, I have no issue chiming in. This is probably what the chapter means when they discuss that people will usually speak up if they are a criminal or moral hero - they have other motives besides just saving face amongst group members, so their reputation within that group has no bearing on their opinions.

Chapter 28 - The chicken or the egg

I found Griffin's discussion of agenda setting very intriguing as it has given me insight to some long standing questions I've had - does the public dictate what the media reports on, or does the media dictate what we think. The answer, as described in the text, is that the media inspires what we think about, not what we think.

This economic crises has been a good example of this. The pending disaster was looming on the horizon as people were over extending themselves and properties were being purchased with little or no money down. Then, the loans were re-packaged and sold to other investors as AAA rated loans, leading the investor to believe that they had highly-qualified borrowers on the other end. They in fact did not.

The media has covered this disaster step-by-step and fueled the issue and worries as the situations intensified. Had the media coverage not been so intense, I wonder if we would be in such a mess at this point. There was indeed reason for concern, but because the media pushed the issue so hard and wore down our (the Public) confidence, consumer spending has slowed, the economy has become extremely fragile, and now people are victims of layoffs, a violent and volatile stock market etc. The media is responsible for a lot of the panic, in my opinion. Again, there was legit reason for concern, but the media has created a frenzy that lead to the out of control downward spiral that we have witnessed as of late.

Chapter 24

Toward the end of the chapter, Griffin poses some interesting commentary of Neil Postman's thoughts on technology. He said that Postman "Pondered whether the quest for technological progress was becoming increasingly more important than being humane. He wondered if information was an acceptable substitute for wisdom" (p. 320). I say no, information is a poor substitute for wisdom. The two must go hand in hand. Without wisdom, we have no bearing of how to use the information and information would have limited use. In the "information age," people aren't valued as highly for what they can physically do, but what intellect they bring to the table. Especially in Silicon Valley, information is king. Although technology and better information is meant to enhance our life, I believe, in many cases, it clutters it.