Models of Communication and the Application to Daily Lives - Essay Example

Models of Communication and the Application to Daily Lives According to previous discussions, it can be summarizedthat a model is an abstract and idealized representation of an event or object. By nature, models can be arbitrary. By abstracting, essential factors are given focus by eliminating certain details. There is a danger that these communication models turn into static pictures the trans-active and interactive processes of communication. This idea turns them into distorting metaphors of communication, for it allows people to see communication opposite to its dynamic characteristic.

Still, there are advantages to knowing the communication models, even without “consciously” applying them in everyday lives. First, models are vital in acquiring general overview and vantage points for asking questions and interpreting data. Second, they aid in clarifying complex situations, for they turn complicated data into common and simple terms. Third, models eventually lead to new discoveries, which is utterly important in development. Since there is no opposite of communication, it is essential to know what affects this fundamental part of people’s every day lives.

For example, in one linear communication model, it is emphasized that there are distractions that could distort a message. Thus, in giving a very important instruction to someone who is distracted by a television show, the speaker should understand that this is a valid distraction, and since the message is important, the speaker should ensure that the distraction is eliminated so the message reaches the listener accurately. Therefore, communication models may be abstract metaphors of a dynamic process, it still provides at least a guideline, and validates communication ideas that would have otherwise been merely assumptions.