Communication Theories

Assignment No. 1
Role of Communication in the
Development of Human Society

Submitted to:
Dr. Mehdi Hasan
Dean SMC Department, BNU

Submitted by:
Zain Ali Bokhari
MA Mass Communication
(Semester I)

Submitted on October 2, 2012

Introduction

The word communication has been derived from the Latin word communis which means to
share. Thus, communication is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of
messages, information, and thoughts, as by signals, visuals, writing or behavior. The history of
communication dates back to ancient times, speech which revolutionized the human
communication was developed some 200,000 years ago; symbols were developed about 30,000
years ago while writing about 7,000. Communication is considered as a natural process for
humans as they communicate messages to the outside world routinely. Without communication,
the lives of human beings would be very different as communication is critical for growing and
maintaining everything around us.
Relationship between Communication and Human Society
The relationship between the communication and the human society is immense. They have
achieved a huge growth during their long partnership. Humans simply could not achieve this
kind of development and growth without the existence of communication. In our society, all
relationships and social connections rely on the communication. Humans understood the
importance of communications after their arrival on earth and developed different
communication methods and processes. The development of these processes gave a great boost
to the development of human society. This is continuing process as people always want to
develop new communication methods and processes. This process in-return automatically
develops the human society.
Communication and Development of Human Society in Old Times
During the stone ages, the communication was in its initial development stages. There were no
languages, resultantly little communication processes were followed by humans. The swift
development of the human abilities made way for the development of communication and human
society. Humans started using signs and non-verbal communication to communicate with fellow
humans. During this period, communication methods such as runners, birds, arrows, smokes and
shouting were used to communicate. As humans become more and more organized, different
kinds of languages and communication methods were developed. Major developments during the
Stone Age were:

Cave paintings
Petro glyphs
Pictograms
Ideograms

Later, during the Bronze Age, human beings invented writing which revolutionized the
communication methods and processes. It helped people to step forward to a new period of
communication. Accepted examples of such writings are of Egyptian hieroglyphs and the Indus

Valley script. By 2700 BC Egyptian writing had a set of some 22 hieroglyphs to represent
syllables. Some of the prominent developments of these times are:

Writing
Alphabet
Paper

Development of Human Society during Communication Revolution

The next major development after the invention writing, alphabet and paper was the discovery of
printed text in Europe in the late 1500s. Before this discovery, the humans could only produce a
single document at a time, but now they could easily produce printed documents at mass level.
This discovery also made way for the mass communication and mass-production of newspapers.
In the nineteenth century, a series of technological innovations powerfully changed the way
humans communicated with each other. This period is called Era of Communication
Revolution by historians. New means of communication increased the pace of life and
accelerated trade and the exchange of ideas. During this period, Great Britain, Portugal and
France colonized many countries in Africa and Asia. These colonies were effectively controlled
and administered through these newly invented means of communication. Knowledge,
information and inventions were also shared with these colonies which helped in the
development of society of native people. Major technological innovations affecting
communication and human society in this period were:

Postal system
Telegraph
Telephone
Phonograph
Photography
Improved Newspaper presses
Motion pictures
Fiber Optics

Communication and Development of Human Society in Modern Era

Communication is considered extremely important for the growth of human civilization, culture
and society. It plays a cardinal role in the existence and development of human society. As the
time progressed, more developments were made in the field of communication which helped
humans to better understand the fellow human beings living in far-flung areas. New means of
communications were discovered in the 20th century. Prominent ones are:

Radio
Television

Computer
Internet

During the world wars of twentieth century, new mediums of communication were discovered.
These discoveries not only helped the war efforts but also played important role in the
development of nations participating in these wars. The events and developments during these
wars were made known to humans with the help of radio and newspapers. Just before the start of
World War 2, Television was introduced to general public in 1939 and was quickly made an
important tool for development of society by Americans. Television played an important role in
connecting the people of Western hemisphere with that of Eastern. To show the landing of Neil
Armstrong, first man on moon, special broadcasting arrangements were made by America. This
move made people of the earth realize that they all are living on the same planet, thus giving
feeling of oneness and unity everyone.
In the last quarter of 20th century, cell phones and internet made its way into mainstream of life.
This rapidly changed the global scene as it made communication between different parts of the
world easier than ever. These new ways of communication opened new chapters in development
of human society. It made development in the rural sector much more convenient as resources
could be easily mobilized for effective development. Great progress was made in the field of
education due to advancement in communication techniques.
The flow of information and knowledge has been made much easier. Researches, new studies
and improved techniques are being shared by using advanced means of communication. Now, a
researcher living in Canada can easily share his study or research with people living in South
Korea, that too without physical movement. Internet has made it easy for the people living in
first-world and third-world countries to interact; the gap between the two has been narrowed.
Different tools of communication have been used to create awareness and public understanding
of the harmful things such as AIDs and drug-abuse. Communication also helps in transfer of
heritage from old generation to new generations so that it can be preserved for the coming
generations.
Today, communication is used for transfer of ideas, education, entertainment, interaction with
society and to update one-self and better understand the world.