Communication,
Meaning and Change
By
Rosa Alegria
Outubro, 2002
My
personal theory is that
social change happens when society responds to
communication in
search for meaning.
Men are the only living beings that need to communicate
and interact among their own species. In the communicative
realm they are not independent. They need to influence,
persuade, by interacting through different communication
processes. Interaction and relationship are the primary
communication objectives by using multipersonal
systems of living and communicating.
There
are no fossil registers that allow us to reconstruct the
moment of the emerging human language, that is the unique
and singular aspect of the humans. Maybe by living in
communities and gathering food human species could build
relationship and affective bonding – leading to
cooperation and a common language.
Prior to the written language codes there were sounds and
gestures. Homo sapiens have learned how to communicate
through pictorial symbols what has turned to be the
alphabet. Men´s need to communicate has permeated
humanity´s existence over time through different
processes and
this need has been driven by a primary desire that has had
the power to change cultures and societies.
For
Herbert Blumer, according to this theory of social
interactionism, human beings act toward things on the
basis of the meanings things have for them, promoted by
social interaction.
In my understanding prior to the meaning itself there must
be a desire for it, just like a search for something that
has a reasoning why. For me it is more a question of
“why” (explicit and implicit interest to get
information) than “how” (the way information comes to
me).
Understanding
has both mental and biological processes built by inter
relationships through information sharing and communion
feelings. This is a vital primary process that leads to
learning process.
A
main interest that human beings have for information is to
relate to each other as to perpetuate his social living in
an interactive process. They are the only ones that can
speak and pronounce the world. They speak and create the
world by giving meaning to it.
After speaking comes the reflection and
consciousness that creates meanings and symbols with one
another, in a social construction. Without the language
domain and the communicative and participatory process
there is no social change.
It
is necessary to understand the real meaning of the word
“communication”,
derived from the Latin “comungare”
which means “make it common”, that is, to share
something that is available to be known. Communications is
a powerful process that promotes people´s contact with
knowledge.
The
concept of “communication” was only defined in the
late 19th century, considering the ability
people have to communicate with one another.
In fact, communication is a concept of the 20th
century, central to the democratic movements, present in
our changing times.
The
several social changes that have shaped civilization
throughout history were mostly due to different mechanisms
and processes of communication, by having social systems
in search for meaning and
man´s need to interact
and relate to others as to accomplish his
objectives. Social
systems are produced through communications and can be
changed through communications as a meaning-clarifying
process.
Communications
identifies and also increases similarities among people,
facilitating community relations and cooperative actions
to get a same objective.
But the will to communicate alone is not enough for
social change. The access to communications and its
availability are fundamental for change.
Communications
influence social systems and social systems influence
communications, as in a causal loop process
It
we look at history we can see that this causal relation
between communications and social systems has been a
reality:
- The
circulation of news to attend communities´ search for
meaning was a reality in old civilizations like
the Greek “agora” as the meeting point or temple
of knowledge sharing and social change. Aristotle
defined the real nature of communications rhetoric
with the ultimate purpose of having all persuasion
means.
- A
symbolic happening
was the Marathon corridor 490 BC after the Greek
victory over the Persians. There was a messenger who
has run almost 43 thousand kilometers up to Athens
that died of tiredness after announcing the result to
his compatriots
- Seneca
reveals that the richest Romans sent their slaves to
towns and get the freshest news with merchant´s
prices as to make good business; this process of
communications has also driven changes in the
socio-economic environment at that time
- In
the old Latin American Inca civilization there was a
long corridor to be walked across from Quito to Cuzco
to attend the Inca emperor request: to have access to
rapid news as get more power.
- The
renaissance has given birth to a real universal
information, stimulated by the several discoveries and
travels. The need to communicate had also great
cultural effects with the emergence of a rich
intellectual production
- Gutenberg´s
press influenced not only the social conditions of
civilization but also has created a new economic
reality through the proliferation of the news
industry; on the other hand, when the press was
invented there was a favorable socio-economic
environment
- The
French revolution was a realm of political questions
that were mostly inspired by the press. It is known
that a good number of political actors at that time
became journalists (ex. Mirabeau, Brissot).
The revolutionary press was the result of the
political turbulence and also the political
environment gave shape to the libertarian contents of
the newspapers and gave birth to the public and
citizenship consciousness
Now
living in the knowledge society, communication plays a
more decisive role in this symbolic living.
In order to reach a meaning we must go
through a whole universe of symbols rather than
things. It is more than the tool or the good crop, it is
now about service and health. It is more than the product
properties, it is now a question of branding.
The changing role of communications can be easily observed
inside organizations that have become complex social
systems due to the increasing access of information and
the increasing social interactions inside and outside the
workplace. If Herbert Blumer were alive he would probably
have to extend his rich theory on symbolic interactionism
in the 21st century knowledge society. The
industry of the 18th century is today a social
institution, with complex systems interrelated with
communication processes. From the warehouse to the human
resources departments, all can be called “communication
departments”, establishing multipersonal systems of
living and sharing different meanings
predominance of
symbols.
Communications
has been always a driver for social change, reinforcing
Everet Rodgers theory. Communications drives social change
by catalyzing different opinions, empowering individuals
(literacy, technology), strengthening communities
(public conversations), promoting community
building (collective
imagination), unleash previous unheard voices
(IT´s ).
But
communication without purpose would not be a cognitive
process for change and
there lies a hidden human desire for meaning.
The “meaning of meaning” must also be
explicated as the word contains the “means” that
provide the route to the significance, reaching “a
process that forms human conduct instead of being merely a
means or a setting for the expression or release of human
conduct” (Blumer).
The
magnetism of the public opinion
Persuasion
is the real essence of communication, according to the old
Aristotelian philosophy and also according to my view. And
in this context, the power of opinion leadership lies on
the degree social systems are influenced by a magnetic
persuasion effort. The public opinion has a recent story
– almost 70
years with the foundation of Gallup Institute in the
United States. There is a modern dimension to understand
the concept of public opinion in which social
communication means have a strong influence.
With the advent of the press it has been relating
to readers that.
A question of pace
The
pace of the reaction of society to what
has been informed and disseminated varied according
to the progressive access to science and more recently to
technological advances, and this pace is directly
connected to ideological and behavioral aspects of the
individual, which in a collective perspective turns to be
a cultural pattern.
My view has something with Rodgers theory on the
level of acceptance of innovations. But besides cultural
patterns as he points out, I would consider individual
idiosyncrasies, such as desires, aspirations, hopes,
powerful forces that have the potential to create the
future, as if they were “cultural lags” (Ogburn) of a
same communications process.
Before
the creation of public opinions institutes like Gallup,
there was a special movement in the news industry
at the beginning of the 20th century. The birth
of the telegraph gave a special path for this growth
resulting in a expanding news market, before
World War I. By developing new technologies
communications was a primary claim and also there was a
search for meaning in turbulent times what may have caused
the acceleration of this industry in a causal relation.
These were times in which information became a commodity
involving material interests in which timing was the main
criterion to measure its value. The faster the news the
more valuable they were. And so it is up to now.
“Logotherapy”,
the science of the meanings
As
a complementary strong driver in the communicative change
process we must analyze the search for meaning, as stated
in Herbert Blumer “Symbolic Interactions” , involving
interactionism as a first stage of the use of meaning.
Viktor Frankl´s masterpiece “Man´s search for
meaning”, introduced the concept of the
“Logotherapy”, his
version of modern existential analysis, a new
school of the modern psychology. Based on his own
experience as
a prisoner of a
concentration camp during World War II, Frankl dissertates
about man´s freedom to transcend suffering and find a
meaning to his life.
The
search for meaning -- in the workplace, in the community,
and in public life -- has become a growth industry. I
think the search for meaning applies to individuals and
to institutions. We're all looking for why we do the work
we do and why we live the life we live. . It was easy in
the past -- we were doing it because we needed the money
to live. Now it's clear that money -- for many people and
institutions -- is more symbolic than real. We generate
more wealth than we really need to live on. And money
becomes a rather crude measure of success. We're looking
for something more.
As
a longtime prisoner in concentration camps during the
WWII, the Austrian psychologist Viktor Frankl found
himself stripped in existence. His family died in camps or
were sent to gas ovens. How could he, having lost every
possession, suffering
fro m hunger, being tortured, feeling cold and living all
kinds of brutality, expect hour by hour, that he would be
free and find that life was worth preserving?
This answer was then given after he left the camp
and founded a revolutionary psychology school called
“Logotherapy”. This school identifies several forms of
neurosis to the failure of the sufferer to find meaning
and a sense of responsibility in his existence.
Logotherapy
and Existential Analysis has been internationally
recognized for decades as an empirically supported
humanistic school of psychotherapy. Evidence for the
growing significance of logotherapy includes institutes,
societies and professorships in many countries of the
world, as well as conferences and publications.
For
Frankl creativeness and enjoyment are not meaningful if
there is not a meaning in life at all, even if this
meaning comes from suffering.
Nietzsche has a strong view on this when he says”He who
has a why to live for can bear with almost any how”.
Once
an individual finds the right answer to its problems and
once society identifies the explanations for the
challenges faced then there is a move for change.
Meanings have not a universal set of values for all, they
differ from man to man, from culture to culture, and from
time to time. In Eastern societies like China and India,
the predominant response is contemplative whereas in
Western societies normally require action.
Human life, in any circumstances, never ceases to have a
meaning, and this infinite meaning of life includes
suffering and dying, privation and death. Those societies
that do not have a process of communication which permits
a full understanding of the why will not know the how for
change.
The
need to communicate the future
To
foster change, leaders play a key-role. They have to
believe and declare that there is a future for their
institution, (Government,
business organization, NGO, etc.) some hope of glory,
whatever that might be. Second, they have to make clear to
the individuals that they are special to that dream of
glory. That they are there because they can make a
contribution and so can believe that there is a reason for
their existence. Yes, we
inherit things from our parents, and this
inheritance affects us. But the great challenge of life is
to override these things and to do better than them. We
can do that. This is our unique human capacity. We can
surpass our inheritance. Great leaders are the ones who
can make people feel that this is true. Within limits, we
can be what we want to be. We can, with great leaders,
create transformational change.
The
creation of meaning
The
equation of the whole social change process driven by
communications integrates the desire of symbolic
interactions, the search for meaning and for knowledge and
also the fierce longing for contact. Knowledge, taken as
the ultimate reason of existence is socially constructed
and socially shared. Computer-based communications is an
open process, way of relating, distributed leadership.
People and things are ongoing social constructions
made in relationship processes.
| Symbolic
Interactions + Search
for Meaning + Search for Knowledge +
Longing for contact = COMMUNICATION.
SOCIAL CHANGE |
In
this sense communication creates a common ground of
interests and needs to be attended in a mutual process
matching one another. For Socrates, the issue is not just
the matching of minds, but the coupling of desires.
The spoken language has an irresistible power on people´s
imagination. I am with Mc Luhan when he says that the
invention of written language has violated the sacred
multiplicity of people and forced them to concentrate on
vision instead of other sensorial channels.
The persuasion of the rethoric still plays its role
but amidst a wide variety of other communications
processes that create new realities and develops cultural
identities. All social organization is a social
construction and our ability to create new and better
organizations and communities depends on our imagination
and collective will.
Language
and words are the basic building blocks of social reality.
Rather than an instrument of people interaction, language
is an active agent in the creation of meaning. As we talk
to each other, we are construction the world we see and
think about, and as we change how we talk we are changing
that world.
We see what we believe and imagine and there is a powerful
driver in a positive imagination, as we are the only
beings capable of changing cultures. It is in our capacity
of crossing frontiers to seek for meaning in an
anticipatory process of bringing the future and know the
unknown, as Fred Polak defines as the instinct of
preservation and reproduction driven by the challenge of
the unkown.
What kind of meaning we are looking for today? What is the
image of the future society has today after the September
11? What do images mean today that didn´t mean yesterday?
What are their impacts and under what conditions our
meaning change through them?
Meanings are transmitted differently from time to time.
From the “hieroglyphs” to the “computer screen”
individuals are connected through different processes with
knowledge and generated different social behavior.
This
has a tremendous implication to a democratic society. All
different thoughts in history contributed to this
From ancient to modern times.
Aristotle
was the main thinker of the spoken language, the art of
persuasion, the rethoric resources In the Nation State of
Greece. Plato indicated an ideal language built on ideas,
true meaning and reality.
There were those who saw that the spoken language
presented flaws. “Words are at present a very imperfect
means of communication”, said a Cambridge critic called
C.K. Odgen. There were those who saw that
technology was the extension of human beings, increasing
the communicative capacity and decreasing manipulation.
Marshall McLuhan thought that the imperfections of human
communication could be solved by improved technologies.
For him, social change was influenced by communication
mechanisms and the kind of change depended on the kind of
those mechanisms. The medium is the message.
The
history of communications shows how society has changed
ever since, from the written language emergence, the
Gutenberg´s press, the technological apparatus such as
telegraph, radio, television, satellites broadcast, and
lately Internet as the whole
and most important phenomena as to integrate
society as a
“global brain”, as Peter Russel defines.
During
the last decades of the 20th century, the world
has witnessed the emergence of a new political, social,
technological and economic environment. In this scenario,
new communication technologies are being developed rapidly
and make more widely available through private
investments.
However, these technologies also can isolate people,
but I believe that the desire for interactionism
won´t allow this. From political parties, based on ideological premises, to
cultural groups, such as
rappers, clubbers,
fashion designers, the new age movements, and the
virtual communities. In the some rural
communities, in Guatemala, Central America,
different kinds of communications channels
are being implemented as to give voice to women so
they can have access to technology and
exchange experiences, find common ground for
decisions, tale more control of their lives and add value
to their role as active partners in rural and
sustainable development. Another example:
in the remote Brazilian Amazon rainforest a radio
broadcast called Nature Alive tells women how to take care
about their health, the surrounding environment and give
them basic contact with the external world. Lives are
being changed, women´s desire for knowledge are leading
them – through communication means, to a new condition
in society.
Efficient
communication for social change
I
have identified some key measurements of effective
communication processes for social change:
-
level
of free
speech
-
discussion
in community gatherings
-
coverage
and discussion
in news media
-
problem
solving dialogues
-
debate
and dialogue in the political process
-
access
to information in crisis management (ex. Aids)
-
increased
in leadership roles by people disadvantaged by the problem
-
linked
people and groups with similar interests who might not bein
contact
Communicating
for the better
Having
in perspective communications as a social change driver, I
would like to keep on this track to analyze whether
society got better or not.
History has shown that different languages and
symbols have evolved into a progressive process. The
translation of the hieroglyphs, the Rosetta´s stone, a
trilingual historical document, the papyrus, all of them
contributed to complement knowledge and the contact with
different civilizations with one another, such as the
Romans and the Greek through Latin and Hebraic language
that facilitated the Humanistic studies.
In the New World, diverse indigenous languages were
discovered by the colonizers. In India, the English
invaders found the ancient sanscrypt.
All these dynamic inter-relation of languages have
amplified human knowledge. Social change has occurred
undoubtedly. But this did not necessarily imply in human
progress In
many cases, communications has been rather
an instrument for human exploitation and dominance.
In the colonization era, communications were like cultural
weapons, as it happened in
Latin America with the indigenous cultures. Today,
the global tribes are being dominated by the English language as a consequence of the modern
colonization model of the liberalism. The World Wide Web
may be a hope in the horizon of the human development
through worldwide integration of ideas and efforts, having
the potential to culminate in a peaceful and better
society. Progress in my concept should imply spiritual
elements never disconnected with the material developments
of human life. And this is not what happened with
progress. With had progress but we are not happier than we
should. We are bored with so many images and too fast
movements in the visual language. The excessive
consumerism and the communications of so many inventions,
make our children sad, they don´t enjoy reading a book
and don´t let their imagination fly. They just pick up a
new toy, a new video game, after another and another and
everything gets boring in a very rapid pace.
Evolutionary
communication possibilities
Information
have been challenging us to know our human condition
throughout history from
a wider perspective. With the advent of new discoveries,
new technologies, our memories are being expanded and we
are starting now to understand better that we have
infinite possibilities.
This is the knowledge that we’ve been seeking for
since the beginning of civilization which now we need to
share. Now we have
more instruments for that than never before. Yes, social
change has an evolutionary perspective through the search
for meaning and the more knowledge we have, the more
developed we will be,
as a whole new global family. Communications will
be more and more the ultimate instrument for the expansion
of the human consciousness. And we see this is
happening now. The natural resources scarcity, the
wars horrors disseminated through cable TV, the unfair
society which the inhuman economic systems generate, all
this is being broadcasted and now through the world wide
web is being shared and acknowledged by a collective
message receiver. Cultural creative groups, ecological
activism in new generations, increasing pacifism movements
and many other indicators are examples for the dawning of
a new society. The noosphere that Teilhard de Chardin have
evoked as a new spiritual sphere, that has been
differentiating humans from other species since ancient
times and is now, by the means of technology, composing a
global tissue in a much faster pace of change.
References:
1.
Frankl, Viktor – “Man´s Search for Meaning”
– Simon & Schuster, 1984
2.
Blumer, Herbert – “Symbolic Interactionism”
– Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall, 1969
3.
Rogers, Everett M. and F. Floyd Shoemaker –
“Communications of Innovations” – 2nd.
Ed. New York, 1971
4.
Peter, John, D – “Speaking into the Air – a
history of the idea of communication” – The University
of Chicago Press, 1999
5.
Boff, Leonardo – “The Eagle Awakening – the
dya-bolic and the sym-bolic in the construction of
reality” – 15th edition – Editora Vozes,
2001, Rio, Brazil
6.
Nietzsche – “Too much human” – portuguese
edition – “Language as a supposed science”
7.
Russel, Peter – “The awakening earth – The
global Brain” – portuguese edition – Editora Cultrix
– 1982 – Sao Paulo, Brazil
8.
Mcluhan,
Marshal – “Understanding Media” – portuguese
edition – Ed. Cultrix,
Sao Paulo, Brazil
9.
Miller,
Jonathan – “McLuhan´s Ideas” – portuguese edition
– Ed. Cultrix
– USP – 1971 – Săo Paulo, Brazil
10.
Jeanneney,
Jean-Noel – “A story on Social Communication” –
Ed. Terramar
– 1996 – portuguese edition – Lisbon, Portugal
11.
Berlo, david K. – “The process of
communication” –
portuguese edition – Ed. Martins Fontes – 1991
– Brazil
12.
Polak, F – The image of the future”
13.
Rodgers, E. – “Communication of Innovatins”
– 2nd.ed 0 New York – 1971
14.
Cooperrider, David – “Positive Action, Positive
Change” - http://www.appreciative-inquiry.org/Pos-ima.htm
About
the author
ROSA
ALEGRIA
Rosa
Alegria is an
independent consultant,
futurist, lecturer, media activist and
communications strategist. Specialist on
alternative media, branding, gender issues and consumer
relations. Research Director of the Brazilian Futures
Studies Centre at the Sao Paulo Catholic University,
co-chair of the Brazilian Node of the Millennium Project,
BA in English, Portuguese and Brazilian language
and literature, completing her MS in Studies of the
Future, University of Houston, Clear Lake,
founder of the Movement Media for Peace www.midiadapaz.com.br
and of the Society of Feminine Knowledge www.ssf3.org
Member of the editorial board of the Ethical
Marketplace TV Series created by hazel Henderson and
teaches at several Brazilian schools for business and
social responsibilty.
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