Communication
Communication is what happens when one Person attempts to transfer a thought, observation, or idea to another Person.
This seems simple enough, but as we have seen with Words, the tools we use to communicate are slippery. A lot can go wrong between "I have a thought" and "you understand my thought."
Several models have been developed over the years to map how communication works. We will start simple and build up.
The Basic Model
The simplest model of communication involves a Sender and a Receiver.
The Sender has something to communicate — a thought, an observation, an impulse, an idea. This "something" is often the result of some internal process: the Sender noticed something, figured something out, or wants something.
To get this "something" out of their head and into the Receiver's head, the Sender must:
- Use a Language to encode the thought into a Message
- Transmit the Message through a Channel
The Receiver then:
- Receives the Message from the Channel
- Decodes the Message using their understanding of the Language
- Processes the Message
This basic model was developed by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver in 1948, originally to describe electronic communication. It applies equally well to human communication.
Noise
The Channel is rarely clean. There is often Noise — disruption that interferes with the Message.
Noise can be literal: static on a phone line, a loud room, a bad internet connection.
Noise can also be more subtle: the Receiver is distracted, the Sender mumbles, the Message is ambiguous.
Noise means that what the Receiver receives may not be exactly what the Sender sent.
The Feedback Loop
The basic model is one-way: Sender transmits, Receiver receives. But real communication rarely works like that.
Before the Receiver fully processes the Message, there are opportunities to check understanding. This is the Feedback Loop.
The Feedback Loop can operate at several levels:
- Message Confirmation
- Was the message received at all? "Did you get my email?"
- Direct Meaning Clarification
- Were the words understood? "When you said 'tomorrow,' did you mean Tuesday or Wednesday?"
- Abstract Meaning Clarification
- Was the underlying meaning understood? "Are you asking me to do this, or just letting me know it's an option?"
- Implication Clarification
- Are the consequences or expectations clear? "If I don't respond by Friday, what happens?"
Each level is a checkpoint. If clarification is needed, the loop cycles back — the Receiver becomes a Sender, asking for clarification, and the original Sender becomes a Receiver.
Practical Application
Most communication failures are not about bad intentions. They are about the gap between what the Sender meant and what the Receiver understood.
The Sender encodes using their Nature and Nurture. The Receiver decodes using theirs. These are rarely identical.
The Feedback Loop exists to close that gap—but only if both parties use it.