John Dewey's Theory Of Communication

In the world of communications there are two major theories. The first theory is the transmission view of communication. This theory was first defined by John Dewey and it presents communication as the dissemination of knowledge. The second theory is the ritual view of communication. These two views of communications seem to be at odds with each other however Cary’s definition of communication helps to explain how the two can work together. In this essay I will explain these two different views of communication, then explain how Cary’s definition of communication works to show how these two views actually work together, and finally I will explain how Marx’s definition of ideology explains how communication effects how we live our lives. The

The ritual view began as a metaphor for movement. During the age of exploration, the only way to transmit information and ideas was through travel. You had to risk life and limb to travel across the known world to talk to people and spread your religion or ideas. When travelers finally got where they were going they felt they had more authority because they traveled a long way to spread their message, this of course led to many conflicts. With the invention of the telegraph the metaphor changed from physically moving from one place to another to the free flow of information. The telegraph allowed people to communicate over much larger distances much faster. The historical origin of this theory helps to understand the main goal of communication with using this theory, the main goal is persuasion. This view of communication focuses on the spread of individual ideas rather than spread of cultural normalities, which is a major factor of why it so popular in America. America is a very individualistic

In his essay A Cultural Approach to Communication Carey explains the ritual view of communication as “language as an instrument of dramatic action, of thought as essentially situational and social, and symbolism as fundamentally fiduciary” (Carey, 35). Unlike the transmission view of communication, the ritual view does not focus on persuasion or dissemination, the focus is on creating a society and reality to live within. The ritual view of communication tells us that we create our reality through communicating. All our traditions and social norms that make up our society are established and perpetuated through communication. The ritual view of communication tells us that reality is created through communication. These rituals help us to find out who we are with in society and how we should act. This view of communication operates on the assumption that humans cannot interact with reality directly. Humans use communication to make sense of the world around us, communication is our way of uncovering truths. When these truths are discovered they dictate how life operated within any given society. Reality must go through the barrier of our senses, our senses help us interpret stimuli, and then through communication, how sense is made of the stimuli, before we can interact with it. Because we use communication to understand the world around us we can never