I can’t even begin to imagine what life must be without communication. For someone who’s cynical and critical about everything, it’s such a big pain to always keep opinions to myself. And to be unable to exchange even a simple greeting would be an unbearable maybe even an impossible lifestyle to me.
The world today relies on being able to communicate. Perhaps the need to express yourself and be heard came innate to humans and long before all those crap on “be yourself” and “express yourself” and “be unique”. I certainly believe humans were meant to talk, to write and to share.
But we all have a tendency to forget why we talk in the first place and how crucial communicating is to us humans. We simply talk. And talk. And maybe even talk some more.
Since I shifted to AB Communication Arts I was branded the term “communication scholar”. From the general practitioner wannabe I’m now someone who’s trying to master no longer the anatomy of man and all its tangible forms but someone who’s allowing himself to finally understand and better appreciate why we talk, why we express and why we share.
Why do we communicate?
It’s a question that has always been there but I never answered or merely tried answering. It’s like most other questions that deal with the simplest but dares the brightest. And I feel apprehensive daring. But I need to try. Just for this instance.
If there’s one thing for sure we communicate because we want others to know our thoughts and feelings. We’re all far from the nomadic epoch. Globalization is the ringing bell today. We want to communicate because as an individual we want to set ourselves apart by having our own standpoints and perspective. But at the same time we want to hear that of others. We differ in opinion. But we’re all the same in the necessity to be heard.
All of us communicate. It is inevitable, communication. It’s a basic human need and privilege.
But there is more to the dabbling and babbling than what meet’s the eye and ears. Communication is not solely based on you talking. Everything we do has a response. Isaac Newton’s laws on motion, I believe, states the every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction.
Communicating does not live by bread alone. It lives on the response too. It’s not just one thing. It’s a collection of meaningful symbols used for exchange. It’s dynamic. It is two way, communication. It seems like all of us have mastered how to decode meanings but lest we don’t know, communication is more than that too.
So communication is not just talk and it’s not just mastering symbols. Communication is also satisfaction. It fulfills man’s desire to be heard. Through a medium, we are able to transcend geographical barriers, unify diverse interests and create a common ground to establish a socio-economic and political order which will benefit the world.
And all of us can communicate.
And all of us can harness such a potent instrument of change and influence. We choose how we use communication.
Everyday conversations and chatters can lead to many great things. Ideas are bullet proof. V, from the movie V for Vendetta, in his sought after revenge believes that man remains destructible but ideas and concepts are immortal in every aspect. Communication is a great gift which goes far more than the usual ideas. Communication is an exchange of ideas no matter what level or context. Communication is bullet proofed to the max.
We rely on communication to live. Even those whose senses are handicapped rely on communication to overcome their limitations.
How we use communication can be likened to a magic wand sans Harry Potter. We can swing our wands and distribute the magic over wide distances or simply create tricks to ease our daily lives. We entertain ourselves with magic spells. We even have specialized magic spells for specialized aspects in our lives.
But one can also harness communication to present propagandas and non-conformist ideas – in subtle forms or in less common, blatant strategies. Whichever we choose, communication or mass media in particular, can easily transmit these bullet proof ideas without sifting. We become all the more gullible to wrong notions and false truths. We can be forced tradition, even. Everything, every form of information can be easily transmitted without us knowing its credibility.
But we also rely on this mass communication to prepare ourselves. Through the different mediums available we can observe, predict and prevent events. But the other side of the cliff is also open. We can misinterpret, become presumptuous and loose proper discernment. We can interfere and disturb the process if we want to.
Communication is as vulnerable as it is as powerful. There is always change.
Yet all the while we still exchange. It’s a never ending process. Kris Aquino and Boy Abunda’s grapevine may end but our fascination to know and be known will always linger.
The same way an individual is inseparable from music (which is also a form of communication I believe); our need to communicate directs us on how we live. It inspires. But it’s not religion. It’s not something spiritual. But it is essential. It may not be as profound as philosophical thoughts but it can be as far-reaching. It might even be the most far-reaching of all human processes. And it might even be the most far-reaching of all living and non-living creatures’ processes.
Everywhere we go there is communication. We talk to ourselves. We talk to others. We talk to the world and share to the world all our inconsistencies and defects on blogs, podcasts and web accounts. Lights communicate with our cars. Cars communicate with cars. Dogs bark. Birds fly before earthquakes. Man is in contact everywhere.
The universe is communicating with us. The stars twinkle in the night. The comets sprinkle over the hemispheres.
The galaxy hears all the radio waves we emit.
Communication is more than a mass process or activity. Today we transmit a message that reverberates throughout the universe. Maybe even one day extra terrestrial creatures would pick up Magic 89.9’s radio waves.
Now, can you begin to imagine life sans communications?
Perhaps somewhere too in the heavens a Supreme Entity would be hearing all our worries, fears and needs.In a world where only a few things remain personal, it’s still nice to know and realize that amidst all of our web accounts and the openness of today’s lifestyle, we can still talk to someone privately - anytime. You know who.
Communication: the concept and state of exchanging information between two entities. Imagine life without it. Baygon?
