Continuity and Change

Any notable act of communication has dual, built-in features. On the one hand it represents a continuation of what has transpired before it. And, secondly, by its very nature, it represents change. A new communication expands what has come before it. It is one more star in a universe of messages received. A communication is an add-on to what has been put forth previously. Whether people are exchanging information or opinions or reading or listening to new messages, they are building on to what they have read, heard or collected up to when that new communique comes along. This add-on, then, whether slight or dramatic, represents a new layer or a continuation of what has been transmitted before. And, because of its newness, the communication triggers some time of change: a new thought, action, reaction, or response.

The dual features are continuity and change, no small things for any of us. This is particularly intriguing when one considers the great majority of us are creatures of habit. We like routine. We gravitate toward the familiar. We take comfort in what we like. We may not mind exposing ourselves to new thoughts or new experiences, but once that happens we tend to incorporate them into our what we know rather than the other way around. Consequently, we tend to advance or evolve at what we view as our own pace, one at which we are comfortable. Communication, with its elements of continuity and change, keeps us in this constant state of adjustment even if we may not always realize it.

The result for us and our world is that communication ensures never-ending change. Between now and the day when our sun finally burns itself out, we will never not be undergoing some time of change. Perhaps as much as anything, then, this is why communication matters. Without it, continuity and change would in all likelihood still occur, only we would not be aware of it, be able to acknowledge it, be able to respond to it, or, ideally, be able to build on it. But we are blessed with intellect, the powers of reasoning and deduction, and the potential to think critically. These abilities give us the capacity to recognize the constant continuity and change that define our lives. They are also enable us to manage our actions as much as we wish and communicate with each other as effectively as we desire. Communication is the vehicle on which we carry out those blessings.