Plotting the Methods

Y-Axis: Expressive Sensitivity

There is no social pressure for higher quality or precision of expression. Communicating via this method can be natural and even reflex with little focus on control of what is said. If there is ambiguity, others are near to hand and in a familiar relationship, so they can quickly and easily get clarification. There is never a need to project messages powerfully over time (i.e. into the distant future) or space (i.e. to persons unknown and far away). So this Associative Method is placed very low on the requirement for sensitivity.

X-Axis: Veridical Explication

The context and local vernacular makes any detailed explication unnecessary. Sentences are short. Terms and phrases are idiosyncratically chosen. Meaning is often given by recent events and verbal habits of familiars or intimates. Outsiders will not understand but that does not matter or is perceived as a positive good. Associations that pop into the mind may lead to irrelevancy and even confusion, but that is nevertheless acceptable. Vague generalizations are common. If greater clarity is important, direct questions addressed to specific relevant person(s) will suffice to check. So the Associative Method is placed very low on attention to veridical explication.

Y-Axis: Expressive Sensitivity

Expression in this method must enable transcendence. We are all immersed in mundane reality, and so the expression needs to embody images and phraseology that can jolt us out of complacency. That in turn demands a high control over the choice of words and style of expression and awareness of their power for the audience. The challenge is to persuade listeners to submit and become other than they are or see the world other than it seems to be. So the Mythic Method is placed very high on expressive sensitivity.

X-Axis: Veridical Explication

Making sense is about fitting in with reality more or less as each person knows it to be. But this method seeks to bypass, overcome or supervene this reality and engage others. Focusing on mundane practical or abstract conceptual clarity would be an impediment. The communicator may twist common meanings, generate neologisms, juxtapose opposites, or revive archaic usages as well as idiosyncratically altering spelling, capitalization or grammar. So the Mythic Method is placed very low on veridical explication.

Y-Axis: Expressive Sensitivity

There is conscious awareness here of a craft to be learned. Much effort is put into expressions that convey human experience in a way that will resonate deeply and widely. This demands use of contextualization, indirectness, gaps or silences, rhetorical techniques like irony. So control extends to all aspects of the communication including silence as well as words. It is not uncommon for a person to make multiple drafts or engage in lengthy rehearsals. Abandonment of the effort may occur if the desired result cannot be produced. So this Gestalt Method is placed very high on attention to expressive sensitivity.

X-Axis: Veridical Explication

The goal of the communicator involves being understood and having the message appreciated at a deep level by others, often all humanity. The overall picture must be grasped by an unknown audience such that no inappropriate confusion or misunderstanding develops. Although each listener or reader will interpret the account differently, that does not matter or is all to the good. In the greatest works, the account spreads to alien societies speaking other languages, and people living decades or even centuries in the future. So the Gestalt Method is placed very high on attention to veridical explication.

Y-Axis: Expressive Sensitivity

The focus in this method is on clarifying fundamental assumptions and useful principles. Once realized, the formulation and expression of these is rather straightforward, not involving much more than describing them and providing examples or illustrations. Because the contents are unambiguous, the Logical Method is placed low on expressive sensitivity. However care must be taken to avoid any inconsistency or incoherence and to ensure that examples resonate. So there is more sensitivity and control than in the Associative Method and the method is higher up the axis.

X-Axis: Veridical Explication

The communication is about axiomatic principles within some particular sphere like mathematics, politics or management. For the material to be self-evident, it requires some background experience to be appreciated. The provision of examples that demonstrate the principle will be tailored to a particular audience, but there is no attempt to describe a specific reality. So the Logical Method is placed low on veridical explication. However, the practical nature of the assumptions means there is some veridicality, unlike the Associative or Mythic methods.

Y-Axis: Expressive Sensitivity

Communication here aims at expressing values, commonly to encourage or persuade a large disparate audience drawn from wider society. To suit them, the expressive structure must not be too complex or the content made too specialized. Also terms and phrases must not violate conventions, cause undesired offence, or inadvertently mislead. As a result, effort is required to construct and control communications. So the Universal Method must be placed high on the requirement for expressive sensitivity, but not as high as the Mythic or Gestalt Methods.

X-Axis: Veridical Explication

Any audience will include diverse sub-groups with different experiences and interests. The goal here is for everyone in these sub-groups to feel they understand, not for everyone to actually understand. If people resonate with the values expressed and experience belonging, loyalty or inspiration, then that is enough. Nevertheless they must be able to respond and discuss the issues with both familiars and strangers. In many cases, the communicator's goal is action (vote, purchase, like), not understanding. So the Universal Method is placed low on producing veridical explication, but not as low as the Associative or Mythic Methods.

Y-Axis: Expressive Sensitivity

The method requires a correspondence between what is written or said and specific tangible things or particular simple actions. Clumsy or faulty phrasing will lead to mistakes or failure with blame and justifiable criticism. So significant effort to control expression is required. Sensitivity is not about emotions or values, but about likely situations, recipient expectations, background knowledge, potential for errors and similar factors. The Concrete Method is therefore placed high on expressive sensitivity, but below the control required in the Mythic and Gestalt methods. It requires a degree of effort that is similar to use of the Universal method.

X-Axis: Veridical Explication

Instructions, like recipes and software manuals, are self-consciously and carefully written in a way that a diverse range of users can comprehend. Although procedures simply have to be followed, and diagrams or photos simply have to be viewed and used, the activity involved must be broadly familiar to the reader or listener who may be expected to adapt or adjust to fit their particular situation. So the Concrete Method is placed high on veridical explication, but below the level of the Gestalt method.

Y-Axis: Expressive Sensitivity

The method is based on an agreement as to what key terms are required in a field and what they must be taken to mean. Once the field is developed, then those definitions and existing knowledge constrain communications. Awareness of an existing corpus of knowledge is assumed and that provides a common context. Much control over expression is therefore given by the group and its principles. So the Conceptual Method is placed low on the requirement for expressive sensitivity.

X-Axis: Veridical Explication

The conceptual method leads to an organized creation of reality through disciplined argument and investigation. The primary goal is therefore to be rational, and to ensure precise understanding within the relevant group which may be large and impersonal. Communications must have emotions, irrelevancies, and poor logic removed to maximize correspondence within the message. So the method is placed high on veridical explication.

Variants

Taking these two axes allocations together puts the Conceptual Method in the lower right quadrant where variant states of conceptualization of the field result in its location within a diffuse oval.

At the extreme lower right, communications fully sustain the current paradigm. They consist of established propositions. Here there is a very low need for expressive sensitivity. How people feel, what they know, or what they are doing is simply not relevant. Established propositions engender maximumveridical explication.

At the extreme upper left, communications may challenge the current paradigm and so there is more freedom of expression. Such speculative propositions, being inherently difficult to grasp or accept, correspondingly demand a higher requirement for expressive sensitivity. Despite this, arguments that run counter to what most in the field expect or regard as credible will result in a lower degree of veridical explication.