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250 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. vii (1947)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0250 and id is 1 raw text is: FOREWORD COMMUNICATION has been called the connective tissue of society. The figure is less apt than at first appears; for while communication is the first condition of social cohesion, its role in social dynamics is equally basic. Where the leader can- not address his followers, where members of the group cannot obtain adequate in- formation or discuss common problems freely, no social action within the group is possible. Nor can intergroup relations be conducted effectively. Co-operation in joint enterprises and the amicable adjustment of differences between groups require a mutual understanding that can spring only from the free exchange of thought and information, and they require the fashioning of intergroup agreements through conference among group leaders. Communication is more than the connective tissue of society; it is the nervous system as well. Whether we regard the small neighborhood group or the modern nation-state as typifying society, it is evident that each step in social evolution has thrown an additional burden on communication. Social evolution implies growth in the size of the group and increase in the complexity of its internal structure; and in a world of fixed dimensions, it implies a steady diminution of the no-man's land separating one group from another. All three developments burden or embarrass communication. Greater com- plexity of social organization multiplies the number and aggravates the difficulty of the problems calling for concerted action. Increase in the size of the group re- tards the formation of public opinion by interposing more and more distance be- tween the leader and his followers and by discouraging the face-to-face discussion of common problems by the public. Increase in the size of the group and shrink- age of the area serving as a buffer between groups make it more difficult for the citizen to comprehend the total environment, internal and external, to which he must react, and multiply the problems requiring solution through intergroup con- ference. In the past, communication has with difficulty kept pace with the growing de- mands made upon it by social evolution. The resulting chronic maladjustment has now reached the dimensions of a crisis. Despite the remarkable contribution of science to the rapid transmission of intelligence and the wide dissemination of information and appeal, it is a fair question whether modern man will succeed in understanding his world and his neighbors well enough and quickly enough to escape disaster. His struggle to understand has become a race between communi- cation and catastrophe. This volume represents a co-operative effort on the part of students in many fields of thought and activity to understand the nature and the significance of com- munication in the modern world and to analyze the difficulties that beset the ex- change of intelligence. The enterprise has been one of survey and appraisal, of prediction and recommendation. It is hoped that the articles which follow will clarify the problem and contribute something to its solution. vii

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