Aristotle focuses on actions, which is an important part of communication ethics. While ethics has been studied as a part of philosophy since the time of Aristotle, only more recently has it become applied.
"They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions" -Five Finger Death Punch:) You can intend the best, but people will focus more on your actions more than your words and intentions.
The United States is considered an individualistic culture, where emphasis is put on individual expression and success. Japan is considered a collectivistic culture, where emphasis is put on group cohesion and harmony.
I just think this is so interesting. I remember reading somewhere about a style of apprenticeship (I think it was common in Japan if I remember right), where the apprentice would spend their first year sitting on a stool, watching their teacher. They weren't allowed to ask questions or interact in any way, they just had to sit and watch. Their only part in communicating was RECEIVING. I don't know how effective this style of apprenticeship was, but I do think it would be a challenge to strictly receive information.
In fact, intercultural communication has the potential to enrich various aspects of our lives. In order to communicate well within various cultural contexts, it is important to keep an open mind and avoid making assumptions about others’ cultural identities. While you may be able to identify some aspects of the cultural context within a communication encounter, there may also be cultural influences that you can’t see.
It doesn't just help your communication skills to pursue intercultural communication, it helps you grow as an individual. It introduces you to new ideas that either challenge or confirm your personal/cultural outlook. And it gives you the chance to make new connections.
The internal cognitive process that allows participants to send, receive, and understand messages is the encoding and decoding process. Encoding is the process of turning thoughts into communication. As we will learn later, the level of conscious thought that goes into encoding messages varies. Decoding is the process of turning communication into thoughts.
I actually just had a conversation with someone about this. She works with ESL (English as a Second Language) students, and was talking about some of the ins and outs of their learning process. One common issue is that many tutors tend to rush the decoding process for students. They'll ask a question, then continue to speak without allowing enough time for a response. It takes another minute to come up with an answer when its a language you're still learning. It's hard enough in your native language sometimes!
Religion also became more complex, and a new class of spiritual leaders emerged. Soon, armies were needed to protect the stockpiled resources from others who might want to steal it. The emergence of elite classes and the rise of armies required records and bookkeeping, which furthered the spread of written symbols. As clergy, the ruling elite, and philosophers began to take up writing, the systems became more complex.
In correlation with this, the care and effort that was put into the physical aspect of writing far exceed much of what was seen before and what we see today. Beautifully hand-copied and hand-illustrated manuscripts were produced, typically of religious documents. Monks would dedicate almost their whole lives to creating these. Isn't it wild how much has changed since then??