Communication - Definition in general

COMMUNICATION

Defining Communication

It is an understatement to say that communication is ubiquitous, omnipresent and pervasive, appearing everywhere at the same time. In the course of our lives, we pass through spheres of experience that range from the private, the interpersonal, the public and professional, as well as the cultural sphere. 

Across all these spheres, communication appears to be vital. Communication is deeply stabled in humans being behaviors and societies. It is difficult to think of any social or behavioral event from which communication is absent. Indeed, communication applies to shared behaviors and properties of any human collection or aggregate.  In all these contexts, we are engaged in some sort of communication, creating and interpreting meanings by means of symbols.

Communication scholars having different theoretical affiliations and coming from different disciplines with different perspectives have put forth various definitions of communication. Yet, no single definition has been accepted as the definitive or standard definition within the field of communication. Therefore, attempting to formulate one single all-inclusive definition is likely to be highly controversial or seriously deficient and incomplete.

An alternative procedure is to attempt to pin down the core concepts of communication that lie at its heart and that should not be overlooked or missed. Let us, then, examine each of these core concepts of communication, which are central to its existence and character.

_ Let us consider the following working definition of communication.

_ Communication is the process in which participants make use of symbols in order to create and interpret meanings.

_ An obvious beginning point is to attempt to define each of the core terms in the above definition.