Claude Shannon was a research
scientist at Bell Telephone Company trying to achieve maximum
telephone line capacity with minimum distortion. He had never
intended for his mathematical theory of signal transmission for
anything but telephones. But when Warren Weaver applied Shannon's
concept of information loss to interpersonal communication, one of
the most popular models of communication was created.
According to Shannon and
Weaver's model (as seen above), a message begins at an information
source, which is relayed through a transmitter, and then sent via a
signal towards the receiver. But before it reaches the receiver, the
message must go through noise (sources of interference). Finally,
the receiver must convey the message to its destination.
Suppose you have an idea in
your head (information source) that you want to tell someone about.
You must first move the idea from your brain to your mouth
(transmitter). Since you cannot actually share your gray matter, you
must select words for your transmitter to use. Once you speak, your
voice (signal) is carried through the air toward the listener's ear
(receiver). Along the way, your signal is joined by a myriad of
other sounds and distractions (noises). The receiver then takes
everything it receives and tries to maximum the message and minimize
the noise. Finally, the receiver conveys its message to the other
person's mind (destination).
Shannon and Weaver's model
clearly demonstrates why even the simplest communications can be
misunderstood. Transmitting a signal across additional media only
adds to the complexity of the communication and increases the chance
for distortion. It is suddenly easier to understand why other people
just can't grasp what we already know.