Discussion

Men Are From Mars and Women Are From Venus

Back in 1948, an American mathematician, Claude Shannon, turned the world of communication upside down by using math to explain the human communication process. His work on information theory investigated how we transmit information. Over the years, the theory has been adapted to provide four basic elements of communication, including:

1. Sender.


2. Receiver.


3. Message.


4. Channel.

A great example of the challenges of communication can be seen in an exchange between a couple and the need for a vegetable for dinner.

Shanice wants to remind her partner, DeShawn, to stop by the store after work and buy corn for dinner. She forgot to ask him in the morning, so Shanice texts a reminder to DeShawn. He texts back and then shows up with a bag of frozen corn. Shanice asks DeShawn why he bought frozen corn when she wanted fresh corn on the cob.

In our example, the sender is Shanice. The receiver is DeShawn. The medium is a text message. The code is the English language. And the message itself is "Remember the corn!" In this case, the feedback is both direct and indirect. DeShawn texted a photo of the frozen corn at the store (direct) and then came home with it (indirect). However, Shanice did not see the photo of the frozen corn because the message didn't transmit (noise), and DeShawn didn't think to ask what kind of corn (context). After considering the example, base your discussion on one of the following:

• This clearly illustrates that women never tell you what they really want. Also provide an example from your experience that illustrates the four basic elements of communication, and discuss how communication noise contributes to communication failures.


• This clearly illustrates that men never listen to their partners and just do whatever they want. Also provide an example from your experience that illustrates the four basic elements of communication, and discuss how communication noise contributes to communication failures.


• The real issue within communication is how we transmit our message and demonstrates that we should never use text messages. Also provide an example from your experience that illustrates the four basic elements of communication, and discuss how communication noise contributes to communication failures.


• DeShawn should have known that you only buy fresh vegetables and he should have remembered that Shanice loves corn on the cob. Also provide an example from your experience that illustrates the four basic elements of communication, and discuss how communication noise contributes to communication failures.


• If Shanice wanted corn on the cob, she should have texted "corn on the cob" to DeShawn. Also provide an example from your experience that illustrates the four basic elements of communication, and discuss how communication noise contributes to communication failures.

OR

Discuss what information you found surprising in the communication style self-assessment you took this week, and why.