Pragmatics of human communication
Called one of the best books ever about human communication, and a perennial bestseller, Pragmatics of Human Communication has formed the foundation of much contemporary research into interpersonal communication, in addition to laying the groundwork for context-based approaches to psychotherapy. The authors present the simple but radical idea that problems in life often arise from issues of communication, rather than from deep psychological disorders, reinforcing their conceptual explorations with case studies and well-known literary examples. Written with humor and for a variety of readers, this book identifies simple properties and axioms of human communication and demonstrates how all communications are actually a function of their contexts.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
4mentions
4people
2019–2024years
75% recommend25% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I don't know about "so far in 2024" but Pragmatics of Human Communication by Watzlawick et. al. is great: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393710595.
Its sequel Change is also great: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393707069, though in my copy the opening 20 pages or so are printed at the end (as if the printing machine used a ring buffer). That is a pity because the Preface has one of the great openings of all time. I was paging through the entire book looking for it—I'd read it years ago and remembered it being at the beginning, which it is, except the beginning was at the end in this copy.
- Personally I think that at least one book is missing:
"Pragmatics of Human Communication: A Study of Interactional Patterns, Pathologies and Paradoxes" by Paul Watzlawick (1)
On the other hand it could very well be the case that the two main points of the book(2) are discussed also in one or more of the 10 listed in the OP.
1) https://www.goodreads.com/it/book/show/89200.Pragmatics_of_H...
2) The two points being: - What Communication and Meta-communication are, what purpose they serve and how these are a uniquely human trait. - The role of the therapist in treating dysfunctional families.
- "Pragmatics of Human Communication" by Paul Watzlawick, Janet Beavin Bavelas, and Donald D. Jackson followed by "How Real is Real?" by the same author.
- "Called “one of the best books ever about human communication,” and a perennial bestseller, Pragmatics of Human Communication has formed the foundation of much contemporary research into interpersonal communication, in addition to laying the groundwork for context-based approaches to psychotherapy."
With a summary like that, I think I absolutely have to add it to the list.
Might make me a better HN commenter, too. Thanks!
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