Human Communication


Communication is an essential part of life for all animals, including human beings. Communication comes in several forms, from speech and voice, to sign language, to written and gesticulated messages that provide a link and information between another single person or as many as can be reached via broadcast. As the world has changed, so has communication evolved and improved.

While some forms have been listed, it is the categories of human communication, which provide us with a closer look into how human communication is studied and recognized. Human communication is broken down into two categories, relational and rhetorical. Relational communication is defined how you would expect it to be, revolving around the compromise and confluence of separate individuals coming to common terms via communication. The rhetorical category emphasizes the study of impact on communication and how rhetoric can sway the beliefs and thoughts of humans. It is interesting to note the roots of rhetorical communication can be traced back to Western origins of an adversarial background.

The dynamic of tension created in adversarial relationships made rhetoric a necessary tool to influence and persuade others. Relational communication was developed out of-as you would expect-relations between people. What also isn’t surprising is the value the Eastern world placed on relationships and how that fostered cooperation between neighbors and helped in the creation of allies.

The world has shifted its values and modes of communication in the internet age. Society is in the midst of a communication revolution, and is beginning to question the more traditional forms of communicating as technology creates more immediate and efficient ways of keeping in touch. The accessibility to communicate on a twenty-four basis due to the notable leaps and bounds made through technology has its supporters and detractors. Privacy and personal freedom have become not only topical but relevant to the world as a whole due to the reach of the world wide web.

We have gone from hieroglyphics and smoke signals to radios and television to social media and virtual realities that are becoming uncomfortably real. Human communication has evolved, this much is true. That said, the communication that was created initially was certainly based more out of necessity than the forms that have been created with the help of technology today. Has technology forgotten the roots of human connection and created the type of unnecessary vanity human communication is threatening to become?



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