ABSTRACT
It is extremely difficult to talk sense about communication. There are a number of reasons why this is so, and some awareness of the reasons for that difficulty is an important preliminary for anyone who is seriously interested in the subject. Some difficulties are: familiarity, popularity; lack of a discipline; approachable both operationally and scientifically; scientism and the mystique of technology; and basic reconceptualization. Although an understanding of communication at the human level is hardly possible without a conception of intercommunication, it is necessary to keep in mind that communication and intercommunication are different processes subserving different ends. Man’s complex biological architecture and sophisticated intercommunication technologies make possible an exceptional degree of self-reflexivity; he is capable of behaving other than teleologically. Most of the technologies applied at the enterprise level of analysis are simply extensions of those available at the interpersonal level.
