Week 2

1. Week 2 April 20, 2007

3. Administration • 1. Next week is off • Promise to have readings on the web site today • Find the website through my home page (courses/graduate)

4. Definitions: communication • An exchange of information between a sender and a receiver • Does it have to be an exchange • Yes: (why) “better understand” is an evaluative word • You are offering a value/opinion • Does that have anything to do with analysis?

5. Against Exchange • No: communication is a process of transferring information • It doesn’t have to be an exchange? Reference the case of communication involving objects and people • Do you all agree that communication involves information? • Do you all agree that communication involves “sender” and a “receiver”? • If I go into the woods where no is (except trees) and I shout: “I hate the world!” is that communication?

6. I walk in the woods and I want to shout some words that maybe no one will hear -- is my intention to communicate? • However sometimes intentions may not be satisfied/acted on perfectly -- do we still have communication? • Yes?

7. I walk in the woods and I am about to shout “I hate the world!” and a big, brown bear approaches and rears up and shows its claws and roars: • Is that communication? • Communication is not only an exchange between people: • Forms of communication:

8. Information Exchange and In/Security • Example of the Virginia shooting: • In this case where is the information? • There was shouting • Based on this an RA was called to “mediate” or settle the dispute • Then there was a shooting • The sounds of verbal fighting and the sounds of the gunshots were information • If there were witnesses who saw him leave then that is also information

9. Information Exchange and In/Security The police interviewed the roommate and based on the information that she gave them they went to talk to the boyfriend Conclusion: exchanges of information can be imperfect • Faulty transmitter • Faulty receiver • Sender has made a mistake • Receiver miscodes/misreads the information • “Noise” on the “channel”:

10. While Cho was killing 30 people in the other building, the police and the university president (and his staff) were deciding what to do • They decided to send an email out announcing that classes were cancelled for the day • However, they also knew that over 10,000 people would not receive the message and would be arriving on campus for classes • What does this tell us about communication? • Some receivers are absent • Limits of technology in communication and society

11. Limits on Communication • May be (in truth) a discussion about limits of society • Is society based on communication (dependant on it in order to function properly?) • Can society exist without communication? • No/it could exist ????? • Do bees have society? • Complex systems do require communication to run smoothly. Where it gets rough/disorganized is often in the breakdown or lack of communication

12. Can we jump to In/Security from this discussion? • Yes? How? • If we look at the shooting incident can we see ways in which communication was linked to in/security?

13. About the Gunman • If we look at the gunman we are looking at the level of individual (inside his mind = psychology) • however society is also implicated in individual psychology • In the case of the gunman, what do we know about him?

14. Who was He? • Immigrant from South Korea • Step father • Sister is smart and motivated • Run a dry-cleaning business • Own it • Probably in the (lower) middle class • Possibly why is this important? • Jealousy of the wealthy

15. What do you know about him? • He is pretty withdrawn • Wasn’t willing to share information with people • His teachers had some information (clues) that he was disturbed • Talked about having the police get involved • Police said: “he hasn’t committed a crime so we can’t get involved”

16. How is this example related to In/Security? • Issues of knowledge • Proof needed to react • Who is reacting? • Teachers • Police • Psychiatric evaluation • Decided he was not suicidal they had to release him • Based on laws/rules

17. What is the purpose of rules? • They take effect when something bad happens • They exist to stop bad things from happening (security) • Something bad happened in this case, and the rules didn’t help (in this case) • The rules are also there to protect the individuals • Act freely within limits

18. How is this value related to In/Security? • Idea of freedom is a societal value • Shared across and in many societies around the world • How is it related to In/Security? • Sometimes freedom means more space/ability to move/act some of which may place us (group) in danger

19. Paradox of Liberty • What is a solution to this fact that having freedom can take away others people’s freedom? • No single solution but every society must make a decision about it options: • constrain (restricted solutions that diminish freedoms) -- short term • Work on social mechanisms which will avoid these behaviors -- long term

20. Paradox of Liberty options: • There are probably other options which we will discuss as we move on. • This idea of long and short term solutions and also restrictions (via social mechanisms) and freedoms are issues that we will discuss as we move forward.