are much more concerned with the self than are others and therefore devote a great
deal of energy to watching and even worrying about the self. The“I”is at the heart of
Western religion and psychology. For example, from Locke, who said rationality
meant you could know the answers to all questions, to modern self-help“experts”
who speak of“personal power,”Americans grow up believing the individual is at the
center of the universe. Cultures that are more group oriented focus on relations with
other people, so although they can engage in self-reflective activity during communi-
cation, their main concern is with the other, not with the self.Communication Is Irreversible
The early Greek philosopher Heraclitus once observed,“You cannot step twice into
the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.”As applied to human
interaction, what Heraclitus was telling us is that once a message is sent, there can
be no way to retrieve it. It is as if you had hit the“Send”key on your computer and
at the same instant changed your mind about using that key. You could not recover
your message. Suppose that, in the heat of an argument with your best friend, you
blurt the one insult that you know will hurt the most, directly followed by“Iamso
sorry.”You may indeed be sorry, but that does not expunge the previous message.
Both messages have been received and responded to internally if not externally.
The reason, as stated in the heading
of this postulate, is because commu-
nication is irreversible. A Chinese
proverb makes this important point:
“A harsh word dropped from the
tongue cannot be brought back by a
coach and six horses.”Communication Has a Consequence
Our last postulate flows smoothly into this next assumption. Having just discussed
how your communication actions once received cannot be reclaimed, this also
means that all of your messages affect someone else. To some degree, they also modify
your own behavior. This is not a philosophical or a metaphysical theory but a biolog-
ical fact. It is impossible not to respond to the sounds and actions of others. Obvi-
ously, the responses you have to messages vary in degree and kind. It might help you
to visualize your potential responses as forming a continuum (see Figure 2.1). At one
end of the continuum lie responses to messages that are overt and easy to understand.
Someone sends you a message by asking directions to the library. Your response is to
say,“It’s on your right.”You might even point to the library. The message from the
other person has thus produced an overt, observable response.CONSIDER THIS
What is meant by the phrase “Communication has a
consequence”?FIGURE 2.1 Communication Responses
1 25 50 75 100
Overt Covert Unconscious Biological34 CHAPTER 2•Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo
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