Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Question #2
I feel that it does make sense to look at communication as a patterned interaction and as a game, as long as that’s not the only way one looks at it. Obviously there are patterns in communication in relationships, which is why individuals often complain of arguing about the same things over and over again. Once the argument is established, each communicator takes their position (like in a game of sports) and repeats the same moves. Communication is like a game because often when two people communicate they are attempting to “win” something. It could be that they are simply trying to win an argument (meaning who is right and who is wrong,) or they could be trying to win the opposite communicator over to their way of thinking. Communication is also like a pattern and a game, because once someone finds out how to “win” they will most likely use the same strategy again.
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I do agree with you when you say that communication should be looked at as a patterned interaction because we all make patterns with communication in some way or another. You are right to say that in communication we do fight over the same things more than once and it can be turned into a pattern. I thought it was interesting how you looked at communication as a game and how someone is always trying to "win" something in the end. I honestly hope that isn't how everyone sees communication because that would make things a lot more complicated than communications needs to be.
ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting how you said that once an argument is initiated each person in the relationship will take a position like someone would if they were playing a sport. Once these two people take their positions whether it is a defensive position or not, they start to play a game because they are both trying to win. Obviously in an argument one person thinks that they are right while the other person insists that they must be correct. I like that along with explaining how both people in the argument are trying to win the argument they might also be trying to convert the other person to their style of thinking. That’s interesting, I had never consciously thought of it like that before.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your ideas about communication being a game. I looked at communication being a game just by following a set of rules and taking turns. You took it a step further and explained that communicators are trying to win. I had never thought about it like that before but I guess that makes a lot of sense. Obviously when someone gets into an argument they believe that they are right and the other person is wrong. I also liked that you said even in normal conversation one person is trying to "win the opposite communicator over to their way of thinking." Great insights!
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