Gaging Complexities and Beyond

Fydah Marie Sabando

BA Communication and Media Studies II

Communication is just as important as any other discipline of knowledge as it permeates

all human experiences. It has become a central fragment of the commonplace activities in the
many systems of life. As it is taken as an imperative factor of an amazing pace of growth to help
people from all corners of the world to connect and stay viable as productive components of our
information-based world, I find that there is a need for us to actually involve ourselves in the
process of learning its dynamics and theories. Humans that we are as well as substituents of
this discipline, lead us to our nature to actually intrigue ourselves with the mysteries of how has
it become this pervasive in our lives.

Taking up a degree in Communication and Media Studies, I have grown my inclinations

to fathom the complexities of it and actually utilizing the skills I have earned way back the years
when speaking, performing and writing were just a bunch of my interest-grown passion.
Struggling to get my way out of things I would always want to know why things are what they
are. Why do we do this or that? How does one thing work for the other and not for some? Is it
just enough to practically speak without knowing how should it be done correctly? Why should I
study communication when there are these good conversationalists that are not even taking up
the same course Im in? I could still remember how Sir Lerona would always remind our class to
be very lenient and willful to inculcate in our minds the communication theories that we are
going to take up after his course. He strongly emphasized that it was those theories that made
him understand the complexities of being a media practitioner, a teacher and a learner. Also, he
exclaimed that it had been the core of his teachings, where he always goes back to and applies
in his career.

Theories presented to me an environment of jargons, scientific processes, objectivities

and highfalutin explanations of certain phenomenon. They actually seemed to be less of
concern on my part because I presumed that communication doesnt have to be as scientific as
mathematics or physics that painstakingly requires a lot of analysis and principles. Theories for
me appeared as equations in algebra, that Ill just have to memorize and then use to solve a
problem set in class and after it Im done. It wasnt until I became extremely intimidated by the
many theories to be knowledgeable of, as the course outlines were given in class.
Communication theories do exist and its number just made me want to know more about it and
its densities.

Studying theories as discussed in class have emerge to bridge the gap between queries
and assumptions; it attempts to guide us in understanding things and deciding how to act as we
acquire new perspectives as it keenly presents pattern of events so that we know what to
expect next. Upon understanding that, I came up with a conjecture that the many
communication theories I came across the outline were numerous for the reason that different
people see different explanations regarding how communication intersects in our daily lives as
we interact or even just involve with other humans and the surrounding. That is why I believe we
should be open in realizing that there are multitheoretical approaches to our inquiries. As in a
half-filled glass of water, one could see the glass as half-filled or half-empty and both are correct
with that, but there is a difference on how they would perceive such situation. Just as no single
theory explains and predicts all human behavior, no communication theory explains and predicts
all communication outcomes.

Experiences lead us to thrive for analysis. We often inquire what seems to be a mystery
to us and why did it happen that way. At first, I comprehended inquiries to be just plain
questions, but after learning it in class; I realized that they should really have to involve a

systematic process of asking significant questions, and providing of significant disciplined

answers. Media practitioners surely did not land in easy means to gauge the complications in
the field of communication if they were not able to come up with a keen study of examining its
problems. Such as knowing how does the Cybercrime Prevention Act affect media users
perhaps. We should first address significant questions like, What is the act all about? (as a
question of definition) What are its provisions? (as a question of fact) Can it really assist the
development of business processes outsourcing the industry of the country? Will it be for the
better good? What effect will it have on media people in their activities via social media? (as
questions of value). From these questions shall emerge observations that can be achieved by
further investigations on things that can be linked to the concern of the study such as using
certain instruments, controlled environment or interviews. As one part on the process of inquiry
affects the other, the questions asked and data gathered will be of equal effect to what the
answers will be constructed. From these answers shall transpire new theories and so makes the
learning go on.

Another discussion tackled that was on theory families really got my enthusiasm up --understanding that the role of communication affairs can be organized by genres or
philosophical approaches, by level, by the categories of the core of theory, and by the structure
of the fields. Above all the organized communication theories discussed in class, (structural and
functional theories, cognitive and behavioral theories, interactionist theories, interpretive
theories, and critical theories) what struck me most was the cognitive and behavioral theories.
For that in this certain organization of thought, psychology is regarded as its primary source of
foundation. Psychology appeals to me as a rather interesting subject too. As cognitivists and
behaviorists exhibit attempts to explain involvement of human thought and action to show how
they try to work out an effective communication simply makes it more yearning to learn.
Mentioned in class earlier, cognitive theories address the ways people evaluate messages of

credibility, organization, and argumentation resulting them to predict information that greatly
affects how they think made me realize how crucial this theory poses on the decisions we make
every day. Just as one important aspect of our life today which is health, media communication
became a socialization agent to influence people on how they promote or discourage healthy
behaviors. It can be highlighted that cognitive processing of information has led people to be
persuaded by how they would follow certain rules or guidelines to sustain their lives.
Communication mediums we have today like the World Wide Web, newsgroups, blogs and
social networks serve information on an array of diverse topics that could promote healthy
behaviors to the public. Though the thing here is that even knowing that this could actually be a
way to expose people to positive healthy habits some studies show that only the people who
accessed formal education tend to involve themselves in the issues of health displayed to them.
The people who acquired less formal education pose a negative attitude towards associating
themselves to healthy habits sometimes even leading to ignorance. So I supposed, cognitivism
and behaviorism really does work hand in hand with communication; because communication
plays the role of a bridger of people to the dynamics of their knowledge and options as to
explain why they behave like they do and end up with the consequences their actions
rationalize.

In that sense, I was able to come up with a general realization that studying
communication theory deserves to be drawn with utmost attention as it really helps us describe,
explain, evaluate and also predict the crucial communication events of everyday.
Communication theories interventions to our lives come in much unexpected conditions. What
is underlying in the wisdom we have, might propose just another theory that could work for
another understanding of things. It is with our own realities and experiences that we get to have
these theories; though theories are not our realities. They possess powers and limits that evolve
from a series of assumptions, concepts, relationship statements, values and expositions of

facts. But merely speaking for the slightest sense, these theories have provided us with a
number of answers to uncertainties we face as communication scholars. For that reason, I
believe that studying communication and the theories it holds can empower me to be a more
informed member of the society, to be set for further complexities of life and to become an agent
of instituting change in the practice of effective communication.

Source:

Finnegan, J.R, Viswanath, K., Communication Theory, retrieved on December 10, 2012 at
http://www.enotes.com/communication-theory-reference/communication-theory

Submitted on:
December 13, 2012