THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COMMUNICATION MEANING OF COMMUNICATION -- ITS RELATION TO HUMANNATURE -- TO SOCIETY AT LARGE
BY Communication is here meant the mechanism through which human relations exist and develop梐ll the symbols of the mind， together with the means of conveying them through space and preserving them in time.
It includes the expression of the face， attitude and gesture， the tones of the voice， words， writing， printing， railways， telegraphs， telephones， and whatever else may be the latest achievement in the conquest of space and time. All these taken together， in the intricacy of their actual combination， make up an organic whole corresponding to the organic whole of human thought；and everything in the way of mental growth has an external existence therein.
The more closely we consider this mechanism the more intimate will appear its relation to the inner life of mankind， and nothing will more help us to understand the latter than such consideration.
There is no sharp line between the means of communication and the rest of the external world. In a sense all objects and actions are symbols of the mind， and nearly anything may be used as a sign梐s Imay signify the moon or a squirrel to a child by merely pointing at it， or (62) by imitating with the voice the chatter of the one or drawing an outline of the other. But there is also， almost from the first， a conventional development of communication， springing out of spontaneous signs but soon losing evident connection with them， a system of standard symbols existing for the mere purpose of conveying thought； and it is this we have chiefly to consider.
Without communication the mind does not develop a true human nature， but remains in an abnormal and nondescript state neither human nor properly brutal. This is movingly illustrated by the case of Helen Keller， who， as all the world knows， was cut off at eighteen months from the cheerful ways of men by the loss of sight and hearing； and did not renew the connection until she was nearly seven years old. Although her mind was not wholly isolated during this period， since she retained the use of a considerable number of signs learned during infancy， yet her impulses were crude and uncontrolled， and her thought so unconnected that she afterward remembered almost nothing that occurred before the awakening which took place toward the close of her seventh year.
The story of that awakening， as told by her teacher， gives as vivid a picture as we need have of the significance to the individual mind of the general fact and idea of communication. For weeks Miss Sullivan had been spelling words into her hand which Helen had repeated and associated with objects； but she had not yet grasped the idea of language in general， the fact that everything had a name， and that through names she could share her (63) own experiences with others， and learn theirs梩he idea that there is fellowship in thought. This came quite suddenly.
"This morning，" writes her teacher， "while she was washing， she wanted to know the name for water.... I spelled w-a-t-e-r and thought no more about it until after breakfast. Then it occurred to me that with the help of this new word I might succeed in straightening out the mug-milk difficulty [a confusion of ideas previously discussed]. We went out into the pump-house and I made Helen hold her mug under the pump while I pumped.
