“Physically, we transmit signals or signs -- audible, visual, tactual. But the mere transmission and reception of a physical signal does not constitute communication. A sign, if it is perceived by the recipient, has the potential for selecting responses in him. Physically, when we communicate, we make noises with our mouths, or gesticulate, or exhibit some token or icon, and these physical signals set up a response behavior.”

—  Colin Cherry

Source: On Human Communication (1957), What Is It That We Communicate?, p. 10

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Colin Cherry12
British scientist 1914–1979

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