Q Activity: Select and respond to <one> of the following questions: 1. Communication is social in that it involves people and interactions, whether face-to-face or mediated. Can you think of a few more categories for the social patterns of human communication? 2. Communication uses symbols, arbitrary labels or representations of phenomena that are sometimes concrete in that they represent an actual object, and sometimes abstract because they can represent ideas and thoughts. Explain a time when you did not understand a "symbol" -- what was it, and how did you realize you did not understand what was being communicated? 3. Communication is a process that is an ongoing, dynamic, and unending occurrence. It also is complex and continually changing. If it were not dynamic, compromise and resolution would not be possible. Communication also is irretrievable, irreversible, and unrepeatable; as such, each communication "episode" is unique. Describe a communication interaction – perhaps one you have had -- that exemplifies how people can end up in a very different place once a discussion gets underway. 4. Meaning is what people extract from what researchers might call a communication episode. What are some examples of situations in which communication may succeed even without shared meaning? 5. The term environment is used by communication scholars to describe the situation in which communications occurs, and can include time, place, method (that is, whether the communication is mediated by technology), historical period, relationships among the participants, and their ages, genders, education, and cultural backgrounds. All of these elements will influence each person's perspectives and perceptions during the communication process. For example, the context of Bob Dylan's music was the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. What are some major contemporary media messages for which the context has changed in recent years? Complete your response by telling us some of the challenges that you see to studying the elements of "communication."