Review

Summary

The methods reflect a positive initiative of a communicator. However, the audience or recipient may re-interpret the communication in terms of their own habitual method. e.g. a conceptual thinker may hear terms and give them meanings according to definitions that the speaker is not using.

Using language effectively is a natural concern and responsibility of each person: even if few reflect on that fact. However, it is also a natural concern of your immediate contacts and wider society. Miscommunication or inappropriate communications can cause distress and social turmoil. Appropriate communications foster group goals and enable broader social needs to be met.

Click here for a reminder of the properties used to plot the TET.

	Name	Effect	Corresponds with	Generation of Meaning	Example
L'7	Mythic	Enabling transcendence.	Openness-L7	Submit to a potent image of a situation even if fully outside present understanding.	Greek myths.
L'6	Logical	Determining essences.	Meaning-L6	Systematize unique identifiers for unique things so meaning is universally unequivocal.	Mathematical foundations.
L'5	Gestalt	Generating experiential truth.	Terms-L5	Express the human condition via imaginative use of unrelated terms.	Shakespeare's plays.
L'4	Universal	Catching interest quickly.	Symbols-L4	Make verbal and non-verbal choices in accord with popular conventions on usage.	Daily newspapers.
L'3	Conceptual	Developing a field of study.	Signs-L3	Get agreement on definitions of necessary concepts that signify a field.	Exchanges in academic disciplines.
L'2	Associative	Enjoying familiarity.	Signals-L2	Enable a subjective flow of mental links (verbal and non-verbal) that are immediately understood in the group.	Everyday conversation amongst friends.
L'1	Concrete	Specifying useful procedures.	Stimuli-L1	Point to or illustrate things directly corresponding to elements of the message.	Instructions for assembling flat-pack furniture.

 

		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

Further Applications of the TET Analysis

Because communication is so fundamental to social life and because the way language is used has such powerful effects, it is possible to identify a range of applications.

► Benefits of familiarization with the methods:  personal and societal.

► How to handle truth in society, especially if painful.

► How religion uses language.

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Originally posted: 15-Oct-2014. Amended: 4-Sep-2016. Last updated: 28-Feb-2023.