Review of the Methods so Far

Taxonomic Location

To understand communication in practice, we are now focusing on how people use language.

The taxonomic study of the use of language has identified 7 distinct ways that language is used. They form a Principal Typology in THEE, PH'5, and each Type is a Method or Paradigm.

It is now held that methods are generally about optimizing the quality of Domain functioning. In this case, each Method contains a meaning generator whose validity is based on giving primacy to one of the levels in the Primary Hierarchy of Communication (PH5).

All of these methods will be familiar to you, even if they are not conventionally recognized within current popular or academic discourse. The methods, so far only briefly explained here and tabulated here so as to permit recognition, possess many additional properties.

Reminder of General Features

• We use communication to sustain every person individually and in groups. The way we use language controls groups and the discourse that sustains any group.
• Each method of language use has strengths and weaknesses in relation to oneself, relevant groups and practical issues.
• There is no perfect method of communication, no super use of language that embodies the strengths of all and avoids the weaknesses of each.
• Communication is required for all endeavours, and because the use of language supports these endeavours, they are not necessarily always used in a pure form.
• Wiio's law that «communication usually fails except by accident» appears to apply to associative (L'2) and universal (L'4) methods, but does not appear to apply to concrete (L'1), conceptual (L3), or logical (L'6) methods. Mythic (L'7) language is something else entirely.

Summary of Properties Identified So Far

Return to the initial description by clicking on the name of the method.

		Practical Function	Group Aspect	Personal Aspect	Reality Aspect
L'7	Mythic	To provide stories about existence, good & evil.	Galvanizes a group to form a united front.	Activates spiritual energies.	Fosters transcendence of mundane reality.
L'6	Logical	To identify useful assumptions.	Overcomes irrelevancy and emotionality in debates.	Enables proper handling of situations.	Specifies fundamentals as essences or principles.
L'5	Gestalt	To reveal the multi-faceted human significance of a topic.	Elevates group consciousness.	Evokes deep human experiences by resonance.	Represents complex personal or social issues as a whole.
L'4	Universal	To allow ideas wide dissemination and influence.	Ensures commonality by sharing values and emotions.	Enables communica- tions amongst all in a specific society.	Affirms received reality and opposes alien ideas.
L'3	Conceptual	To investigate and explain the unknown.	Enables a body of disciplined thinkers.	Maintains acuity of thought and exposition.	Develops and establishes knowledge in a field.
L'2	Associative	To make immediate personal observations.	Uses familiarity and sustains social contact	Asserts self in terms of actions and relations.	Enables use of subjectivity in a specific situation.
L'1	Concrete	To specify processes in the finest practically relevant detail.	Provides for uniform or synchronized actions.	Provides routine, ritual and self-discipline.	Covers the detailed inner workings of things

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Typology Properties to be Elaborated

• An artificial schema for communication illustrates features of the methods.
• The oscillating duality reveals an analogue v digital pattern.
• The unfolding duality
• Alternative approaches to handing reality.
• Choice of method when using language.

Then move on to the TET analysis.

Originally posted: 5-Jan-2013. Last updated: 10-Feb-2023.