CONTEXT (Relevant)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 666 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
That part of the context that helps to classify the message (After G. BATESON, 1973, p.218).
BATESON explains how the context may reinforces or modify the message, for example “… place the message in the category of humour, metaphor, etc. The setting may make the message inappropriate. The message may be out of tune with the larger context, and so on. But there are limits to these modifications. The context may tell the recipient anything about the message, but it cannot ever destroy or directly contradict the latter” (Ibid).
BATESON gives an interesting example: “I was lying when I said ”The cat is on the mat“ tells the vis-a-vis nothing about the location of the cat. It tells him only something about the reliability of his previous information” (Ibid). This means that the message is reclassified within a different relevant context: it should not have been taken at its face-value.
Of course, while “relevant context” for human information and knowledge is a matter of paradigms, “without context, there is no communication” (p.378).
However, it seems now to be correct even in genetics and embryology, as shown by the discovery of the importance of the reciprocal positions of genes and chromosomes.
See also
Positional value