Context and prior beliefs about another person shape the interpretation of all communication.
Evidence
Within any human society, the context in which a communicative act is offered is critical to its interpretation. This is true for the full range of such acts, from simple conversations to informal and formal contracts: even the most detailed of contracts cannot make explicit everything which must be understood for its interpretation. The beliefs which are held about another person at the time of communication are a significant part of what that context amounts to. Therefore, anything which contributes to a greater sense of knowing the other can contribute to the participants’ belief in the possibility of mutual understanding. — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 705
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content
- DEFINE: Defines context-as-background-beliefs, the shared-knowledge substrate that makes communication interpretable.
- XREF: Directly connects to Luhmann’s ‘familiarity’ as the baseline enabling trust and coordinated interaction.