I’ve studied communications for years now but today was the first time I encountered the video from Archive.org that I’ve included in this post. Which is a shame because it’s fantastic. At the same time I’m glad I’ve stumbled across this video now so that I can share it with those who are interested.
Communication underpins everything we do. In a sense, we cannot do anything without communicating something, so it’s important we understand the implications of this.
For those that follow this blog you’ll know I’m interested in simplifying the discussions around communication by elevating the deeper rooted theory in to a simple three thought process. Purpose. Audience. Context. It’s a starting point to think about communication and how well we communicate but is no means complete.
This video does an excellent job of explaining the deeper rooted theory, particularly focussing on Shannon’s model of communication but also touching on signs, symbols, culture and noise. It’s a great video and carries that typical 1950’s haunting aspect of informational videos. I love the images, editing techniques and footage and the soundtrack just tops it all off. But despite all of this retro greatness there’s nothing more important in this video than the content.
It’s a long video at 20 mins but well worth sticking through. Some highlighted phrases stood out from a testing point of view.
English language is one half redundant
and
Computers are often referred to as brains….The greatest fallacy in the comparison is one of degree.
Enjoy:
I liked the video (yes watched whole thing) but couldn’t make a strong link to testing.Very relaxing video though.
Hi Steve,Thanks for the comment. Glad you liked the video even with no link the testing. I don’t think there is a direct link to testing either, but I see communication as underpinning everything we do in testing, so this topic interests me greatly. :)Thanks for the comment.Rob