The Most essential element of communication?

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
1

Wha6t would you say is the most essential, most fundamental element or component of communication?

Is it the ability to assign names, or the ability to think logically? Obviously, both are neccessary components of all effective communication — I realize this.

But which is THE MOST basic, or fundamental of the two?

Or, am I attempting to split a quark? :wink:

2

neither…

the most essential thing for communication is an agreement on definition

-Imp

3

Again, I’m honestly not trying to split hairs here, but…

does not the abillity to “agree on a definition” first require the ability for the definition to exsist in the first place? So, would not the most fundamental element be “the essence of Definition, itself”? :confused:

4

existence as a predicate for definition?

maybe…

define god

“existence” is “existence” becasue of an agreement on the meaning of “existence”… without that, “existence” doesn’t exist.

one dead rabbit

-Imp

5

Okay, you’ve convinced me. I guess you are right. Agreement does precede existence.

Once again, I honestly do not want to split the quark in half, but…

Now, let us examine the essence of “Agreement”. Is agreement the most fundamental element of itself? Or can it, like communication, be furthur broken down into more elementary(sp?) components?

What do you think? :confused:

6

agreement may be defined however you like… there is no “form” of agreement that transcends agreement…

-Imp

7

I think that the most important thing is the ability to break ideas down into understandable parts, so that the reader/listener can follow the logic.

Some academic material sets your head spinning. It’s purposely written in an obtuse manner to sound academic. Meanwhile, something like a cake recipe is composed to let you know exactly what needs to be done.

People appreciate it when you make things clear to them.

8

I think the most important thing is to always keep in mind that real communication is essentially impossible.

Words are just signs pointing us in the right direction.

9

  1. Read Wittgenstein’s ‘Philosophical Investigations’ - it is probably the best single text in the history of philosophy of language

  2. There are no essential elements to communication, only habits built up over time