Interpersonal Communication Theory

Reading, writing, speaking, and various other forms of communication have been essential to the evolution of human beings. Our species’ dominance today was preconditioned by communication, allowing us to excel in fields such as abstract thought, logic, and rationality. Thousands of years have elapsed since the alphabet, one of our most essential mediums of communication, was invented. This invention altered the methods in which we structure our thoughts and ideas, thus domesticating the human species into the cooperative junction it is today. However, this was only an invention, not a natural occurrence imbedded into the human intellect. For example, the ability for babies to cry in order to indicate distress is a natural occurrence, whilst …show more content…
This reflection will explore the implications of an oral and literate culture on society, compare the Global Carnival Theory video to McLuhan’s theories, and explore the implications of this society on my own life. An oral society is one in which all communication is made through speech and listening. All values and morals are stowed within the minds of people, thus eliminating the possibility of knowledge existing as a separate unit. Therefore, knowledge can only be transferred through a means of speaking. Due to this fact, I used to believe that speaking would be a repetitive form of communication, where all information is relayed without thought, but rather memory. This form of communication would disable society from producing individuals who possess original thought. This also led me …show more content…
McLuhan states in the video that we; “feel much more groupie, or trendy, much more than [we] feel private or goal oriented” implying that we will become dependent on one another and share similar thoughts which will lead to repetitiveness in ideas. This video displays this notion by repeating segments that begin and end with a countdown to zero. Through this I can infer that the video is displaying how thoughts are repeated in a post-literate society, and even though there may be varying content in between, the end results are all very similar. This repetition and similarity of thoughts displays McLuhan’s ideas of Western culture becoming third worldly, where all ideas and expressions are a reflection of all others and individuality is non-existent. Additionally, the fast moving visual effects and music in the video illustrate that in a post-literate society tools become obsolete all too quickly. This obsoleteness is the product of newer and improved forms of technology coming forth that rapidly null their predecessors and disable society from being able to interpret its meaning and effects. This results in society not fully comprehending what is being seen, yet being forced to accept it without ever being able to build on it. Finally, certain portions of the video have emphasized conversations which illustrate that when visuals or sound move too quickly, we only