Communication Week 02 - Dewey and Camus - Mike Busby Photography

     For Dewey, communication manifests the human experience, and it acts as a medium allowing for the exploration of the human condition.  Dewey noted two forms of communication as transmission, the sharing of ideas, and the ritual, participation in shared experiences.  There is an encounter, and then reality forms as people attribute shared symbols to their experiences.  In this manner, the experience of living life draws people together through communication and shared understanding.
 
     The Metaphor of the Absurd occurs when our view of the world collides with the realities of the world.  It reflects a tension between our nature to construct realities based on personal preferences or desires against an indifferent and irrational world.  A significant problem is our tendency to frame our beliefs around uninformed opinions over critical thought.  The metaphor also acts as a model to increase understanding through critical thought, and to decrease our biases by exposing the fallacy of uninformed opinions.

     Everyday experiences were the foundation of Dewey and Camus’s views.  Dewey considered problematic communications as the generator of knowledge, and Camus viewed disconnects as opportunities to explore and modify our biases.  Their theories apply marvelously to my experiences, although their real world application tends to be rather bumpy.  In either case, both authors reflect that everyday challenges have the potential to improve our understanding and communication.

     Camus spoke to how personal narratives fit within larger social narratives.  His idea, along with Post Modernism, evoked the idea that we live in numerous narratives.  I might return to Dewey and suggest that we have experiences, but then we form reality based on the narrative that is most pertinent to us at the time.  Camus would have us consider if the narrative we choose is based on convenience or thoughtful insight.  

     Dewey and Camus’s thoughts apply to modern life.  We communicate and navigate numerous narratives and realities everyday.  Problems in communication tend to reflect conflicting perceptions of reality, competing narratives and ignorance.  Both authors seemed to value the content of communication over the transmission of information.  I think it’s pertinent that both authors view communication problems as opportunities for self-reflection and growth.  

References
Carey, J. (n.d.). CHAPTER 1 A Cultural Approach to Communication. Retrieved May 11, 2014, from http://www3.niu.edu/acad/gunkel/coms465/carey.html

Sleasman, B. (n.d.) A Philosophy of Communication as the Absurd: Albert Camus and the Ethics of Everyday.  Tiffin, OH: Tiffin University.

Mike
Mike Busby Photography
Busbywc.com