Quantumstuff in Communication: Some Implications of Stephenson's Concept

Abstract

The fundamental proposition of quantum theory, that observed phenomena
interact with the observer, was seen by Stephenson as an important link
to his construction of theory about communication. Key linking concepts
are communicability - oral public culture/discourse, or consciousness -
and intentionality, which is based on the fact that all possible
responses for a person are contained in a culture, subculture, or
counterculture. Of these responses, only a few are highly significant
possibilities. Another key concept, complementarity, makes allowances
for inevitable social discontinuities. Parallels are drawn between the
transitive, subjectivity, and communication theory (which involves
self-reference) on one hand, and the substantive, objectivity, and
information theory (which involves matters of fact) on the other.
Stephenson contended that more emphasis needs to be placed on
self-reference and less on information. Q methodology, by drawing on
Pierce's Concept of abduction, Stephenson said, makes possible the
application by subjects of "all probability states." We provide a set of
six basic postulates that sum up Stephenson's argument for the
relevance of quantum theory. We contend that what counts for journalism,
in applying quantum theory, is the communicability of the masses, not
the messages themselves. The concepts of concourses (the sum of an
individual's knowledge and self-reference) are indispensable to
understanding mass communication. Factoring rankings of self-referent
statements leads to uncovering significant beliefs common to a culture,
but also allows identification of subcultures and countercultures.
Rogers and Kincaid's convergence model is seen as useful to this
process.