The Medium And The Message

A few weeks ago I came across the notion of the single vocational verb. Since then, off and on, I've been trying to work out what mine would be. I seemed to be stuck, unable to get past the final two: to connect and to communicate.

This morning, I had a moment of clarity: the reason I can't choose between them is that I don't need to. These verbs are actually two sides of the same coin. The connection is the process and the communication is the result. Technology first, then information. Switch on the TV, watch the programme. Link, exchange.

EM Forster's Howard's End is one my favourite books, in part because of its dominant theme of "seeing life steadily and seeing it whole". It's that old theme of taking responsibility for your actions and their consequences again. The book's aphorism is "Only connect", which for years has been my motto. However, I think I'm going to have to revise that to the much more personal "Connect first, then communicate".

Posted by Hg on Wednesday 26 June 2002 at 20:25.
Received 2 comments so far.

Did you read this piece by Zoe Williams in Saturday's Guardian?

Comment by mike on Thursday 27 June 2002 at 06:13.

Heh. I've tended to pass over that column recently - it started off interesting but lately I've been feeling that she's running out of steam.

Here's the earnest, po-faced reply. She's talking specifically about connections between people, I'm talking in a more abstract sense about the notion of 'connection' as a concept and as an enabler.

And here's the snappy, sarky one. It's easy to ridicule what you don't understand. Miaow.

Comment by Stuart on Thursday 27 June 2002 at 14:34.

http://www.hydragenic.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hydragen/mt/mt-tb.cgi/112

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