METACOMMUNICATION
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 2088 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
A key for decoding communication.
The concept is introduced and thus explained by M. MARUYAMA: “Metacommunication is a ”decoding key“, but not the content of the communication. For example, if I send a message, ”It is raining in New York“, and send another message, ”The first message is false“, then the second message is a decoding key for the first message, telling you that a joking mode or a deceptive mode was used. But the second message by itself does not say anything about the weather in New York” (1994, p.69).
Metacommunication may lead to double-bind situations, as with the famous Epimenides-the-liar paradox (see “Theory of types”, “Metamessage”).
Metacommunication thus frames and relativizes communication. This is very significant, especially when metacommunication remains implicit, as it is the case in many transcultural situations. Transculturated individuals can become victims of their ignorance of implicit metacommunication in the other culture.