‘Paris with snakes’? The future of communication is/as ‘Cultural Science’
What if communication has been pursuing the wrong kind of science? This article argues that the physics-based or ‘transmission’ model derived from Claude Shannon and criticised by James Carey does not explain how communication works. We argue instead for a model derived from the evolutionary and com...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22996 |
| _version_ | 1848751028644610048 |
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| author | Hartley, John Potts, J. |
| author_facet | Hartley, John Potts, J. |
| author_sort | Hartley, John |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | What if communication has been pursuing the wrong kind of science? This article argues that the physics-based or ‘transmission’ model derived from Claude Shannon and criticised by James Carey does not explain how communication works. We argue instead for a model derived from the evolutionary and complexity sciences. Here, communication is based on dynamic systems of meaning (not individual ‘particles’ of information), and relations among knowledge-producing agents in culture-made groups. We call this sign-based evolutionary and systems model of communication ‘cultural science’ (Hartley and Potts, 2014), and invite communication scholars to assist in its development as a ‘modern synthesis’ for communication, along the lines of Huxley’s synthesis of botany and zoology as evolutionary bioscience. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:46:13Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-22996 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:46:13Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-229962024-06-06T01:37:59Z ‘Paris with snakes’? The future of communication is/as ‘Cultural Science’ Hartley, John Potts, J. What if communication has been pursuing the wrong kind of science? This article argues that the physics-based or ‘transmission’ model derived from Claude Shannon and criticised by James Carey does not explain how communication works. We argue instead for a model derived from the evolutionary and complexity sciences. Here, communication is based on dynamic systems of meaning (not individual ‘particles’ of information), and relations among knowledge-producing agents in culture-made groups. We call this sign-based evolutionary and systems model of communication ‘cultural science’ (Hartley and Potts, 2014), and invite communication scholars to assist in its development as a ‘modern synthesis’ for communication, along the lines of Huxley’s synthesis of botany and zoology as evolutionary bioscience. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22996 10.1177/1748048516655712 fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Hartley, John Potts, J. ‘Paris with snakes’? The future of communication is/as ‘Cultural Science’ |
| title | ‘Paris with snakes’? The future of communication is/as ‘Cultural Science’ |
| title_full | ‘Paris with snakes’? The future of communication is/as ‘Cultural Science’ |
| title_fullStr | ‘Paris with snakes’? The future of communication is/as ‘Cultural Science’ |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Paris with snakes’? The future of communication is/as ‘Cultural Science’ |
| title_short | ‘Paris with snakes’? The future of communication is/as ‘Cultural Science’ |
| title_sort | ‘paris with snakes’? the future of communication is/as ‘cultural science’ |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/22996 |