00100	Pragmatics of Human Communication
00200		Paul Watzlawick,Janet Beavin,Don Jackson  (MRI)
00300	
00400	Cases of fox and rabbit population,
00500	Point is made that individual phenomena often do not make sense
00600	until considered in some wider system (ecology, the family).  Psychology
00700	has tended to concentrate on individual in isolation.
00800	
00900	Communication
01000		syntactics-coding and devices
01100		semantics-conventions of meaning
01200		pragmatics-behavior
01300	focus on sender-receiver relation mediated by communication.
01400	Wants to avoid reification of concepts such as dependency,etc.
01500	
01600	Feedback systems:
01700		negative feedback-stability
01800		positive feedback-change
01900	this language is that of reinforcement. Couples, families, therapy
02000	groups are feedback systems.  Example from schizophrenic families
02100	that the patient is essential to stability of family.  Such systems
02200	cannot be analyzed by isolating variables.
02300	
02400	Redundancy=predictability of language and communication.  Awareness
02500	of behavior being out of context.  We are in constant communication
02600	but we do not have much ability in communicating about communication,
02700	meta-communication.  Observationally find "rules of game".  
02800	There is a difficulty that meta-communication must be in the same
02900	language as communication, while meta-mathematics is in natural
03000	language and mathematics in symbolic terms.  
03100	
03200	We cannot really know the internal structure of others, ie
03300	know intention. Thus we find it useful to adopt a black box approach
03400	and search in the here and now behavior for rules.  Why might be
03500	replaced by "what for".  In a feedback system, A's behavior affect
03600	B's and B's affect A's behavior.  We cannot really talk about one as
03700	the cause and the other as the effect, even though it is the common
03800	way of thinking and perceiving.  Normal/abnormal depends on situation;
03900	schizophrenia can be seen as a reasonable reaction to an untenable
04000	communication context.
04100	
04200	Impossibility of Not Communicating
04300	We cannot avoid communicating; we cannot avoid behaving.  Even if
04400	communication is not intended, conscious, or understood.  The schizophrenic
04500	behaves as if he would avoid commitment by not communicating.  Any
04600	communication implies a commitment and defines the relationship; ie
04700	a communication not only conveys information, but imposes behavior.
04800	"report,command"  "content,relationship" . "Communication,metacommunication".
04850	In spontaneous and healthy
04900	relationships, the relationship aspect of communication recedes into the background;
05000	in "sick" relationships, communication is about the relationship
05100	and not content.
05200	
05300	The sequence of exchanges in a communication has different meaning
05400	to participants if they punctuate the sequence differently.  The feedback
05500	system: eg he withdraws, she nags.  He perceives his withdrawl in response
05600	to her nagging; she perceives her nagging in response to his withdrawl.
05700	Inability to meta-communicate about their patterning of communication.
05800	The nature of a relationship is contingent upon the punctuation of the
05900	communicational sequences between communicants.
06000	
06100	Symbolic=verbal communication; analogic=nonverbal communication.
06200	Relationship, ie metacommunication is often analogic=nonverbal.
06300	No non-verbal equivalents of logical operations (if,and,or,not);
06400	
06500	Complementary(dominant-submissive) and Symmetric (competitive)
06600	changes.  All communications are complementary or symmetric,
06700	depending on whether they are based on equality or difference.
06800	
     

00100	You hate those times when I read poetry.
00200	To you it means that I am awake to someone else
00300	That I seek life we no longer hope for together
00400	When I am too tired, too ground down to have
00500	the energy,
00600	You hate that, too, but prefer it,
00700	Having become a like thing, mechanised, 
00800	a Zen technician.
00900	
01000	So much like those you criticize, who make
01100	pale mostly irrelevant little techniques.
01200	You admire only the best among scientists,
01300	if at all, engineers not at all,
01400	most Zen masters immoderately.
01500	You say you value art equally with science
01600	but do you somehow feel 
01700	that Picasso is greater than Feynman?
01800	I do and yet I say that I value art
01900	and science equally.