COMS 201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Organizational Communication, Organizational Culture, George Herbert Mead
14 Apr 2016
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We cannot freeze communication at any moment. Anything that abstractly signifies something else can be a symbol. We actively construct meaning by working with symbols. George herbert mead (1934: humans are talked into humanity . We gain personal identity through communicating with others: theorized that we first see ourselves through the eyes of others, so their messages are extremely important in forming the foundations of self-concept. The profound connection between identity and communication is dramatically evident in children who are deprived of human contact: ex. Ghadya ka bacha, the wolf boy , 1954 in balrampur, india. Without interaction with others, children cannot learn what it means to be human and cannot develop their identity as humans. People who lack close relationships (platonic or romantic: greater levels of anxiety, depression, heart-disease, lower self- esteem, other physical problems, more headaches, alcoholism, cancer, sleep disorders. Patients with close relationships often have less severe symptoms and live longer.
