Lars Taxén Linköping University Articulating the Communicational Infrastructure from a Coordinative Perspective Lars Taxén Linköping University

Background Coordination of large development projects in the telecom industry 30+ years 15+ years Researching coordination Theorized as “activity modalities” Encountered Harris’s work through Peter J Missing piece in my research 2011 The background of this approach comes from working with ….

Research interest The purpose of my presentation is to discuss how (and if) coordination conceptualized as “activity modalities” may contribute to the understanding of the relation between 1st order language-use and 2nd order language abstractions This is very much a work in progress, and I look forward to any comments and suggestions you might have

Point of departure “For the integrationist ... the discussion begins ... with the communicational infrastructure that must be in place before, as individuals, we can engage in any communication process whatsoever” (Harris, 1996)

Communicational infrastructure - factors Biomechanical relate to the physical and mental capacities of the human being Circumstantial relate to the specifics of particular situations Macrosocial relate to practices established in the community henceforth referred to as “communal factors”  Macrosocial is not an entirely satisfactory term, in that the relevant group in a particular case may consist of no more than two or three individuals.  “The integration that is typically required in human communication depends on coordinating sequences of activity involving factors of all three kinds” (Harris, 1996)

Biomechanical capacity versus ability “A biomechanical capacity is by no means the same as a biomechanical ability. ... Biomechanical capacities do not translate into biomechanical abilities unless there is the opportunity to exercise them” (Harris, 1996) A biomechanical capacity is by no means the same as a biomechanical ability. ... Biomechanical capacities do not translate into biomechanical abilities unless there is the opportunity to exercise them (Harris, 1996) Doubtless many contemporaries of Julius Caesar had the biomechanical capacity to become pianists, but were never able to develop the corresponding biomechanical ability because the pianoforte had not yet been invented

The Activity Modalities - biomechanical capacities enabling coordination

Contextualizing relevance Re-focusing What kinds of biomechanical abilities must a player have in order to participate in this particular activity? In this situation, we attend to relevant things and disregard that which is not relevant, we cognize a context of relevance For example, players, guitars, scores, note stands, the public are certainly relevant. The books in the shelves are not

Conceive a temporal structure Conceive a spatial structure Adhere to communal norms Next, what is required of an individual player in order to participate in the concert activity? Well, he must be proficient in reading the score and integrate this with his guitar playing. This means that he must be able to conceive a temporal dimension … This notion … Since it has been around for such a long time… Guido of Arezzo (991/992 – after 1033) was a music theorist of the Medieval era. He is regarded as the inventor of modern musical notation (staff notation) Score notation is more than 1000 years old! Harmonized with our biomechanical capacities

The Activity Modalities Objectivating Focusing on the intended object of an activity Contextualizing Foregrounding relevant things and ignoring irrelevant ones Spatializing Conferring a spatial structure onto the activity Temporalizing Conferring a temporal structure onto the activity Stabilizing Habitualizing relevant actions Transitional Refocusing attention to another activity Biomechanical capacities enabling the coordination of actions Each modality is ultimately realized by various areas and processes in the brain. If we take spatialization for example, Integration of activity requires that all these biomechanical capacities are intact

Requisite neural correlates of spatializing Place cells Grid cells

Communal “identifiers” Objects that functions semiotically – onto which signhood is conferred – in a communal practice “The nature of an object is constituted by the meaning it has for the person or persons for whom it is an object… this meaning is not intrinsic to the object but arises from how the person is initially prepared to act toward it” (Blumer, 1969) Even when located in an appropriate environment, an object only functions semiotically in so far as someone makes it do so. The signhood of the speed-limit sign is not immanent in it. However impeccably positioned, it is not a sign in the semiological sense when nobody is around to see it, for instance. Or when seen by strangers to our civilization who have no idea what to make of it. Signhood is conferred on a sign—on what thereby becomes a sign—if and when human beings (or other semiotically competent creatures) attach a signification to it that goes beyond its intrinsic physical properties, whether in furtherance of a particular programme of activities, or to link different aspects or phases of their activities, to enrich their understanding of their local circumstances or general situation

Integrating infrastructure factors Communal IDENTIFIERS Downward constraining Biomechanical ABILITIES Upward enabling Actuated potentials Biomechanical CAPACITIES Activity Modalities Upward enabling potentials

Joint action

Joint action “Joint action refers to the larger collective form of action that is constituted by the fitting together of the lines of behavior of the separate participants” (Blumer, 1969) “Joint actions range from a simple collaboration of two individuals to a complex alignment of the acts of huge organizations or institutions”

Dispersed individual lines of action Communalization Individual lines of action fitted together “Joint action cannot be resolved into a common or same type of behavior on the part of the participants. Each participant … engages in a separate and distinctive act. It is the fitting together of these acts and not their commonality that constitutes joint action” (Blumer, 1969) Same AMs

Example!

Karin learning some Swedish words Communalization Mom Dad Karin Swedish-speaking community Communal identifiers Mom Dad Swedish-speaking community “Mamma” “Lampa” “Pappa” Biomechanical factors present Circumstantial factors as well Communalization means that the communicational infrastructure change, including changes in biomechanical abilities Objectivating Transitional

Communalization of the Feynman diagram Community of theoretical physicists using the diagram (today) Communal identifier Feynman “Community” of theoretical physicists using the diagram (1948) Richard Feynman (1918 – 1988) Temporalizing Spatializing Stabilizing In theoretical physics, Feynman diagrams are pictorial representations of the mathematical expressions describing the behavior of subatomic particles. The scheme is named for its inventor, American physicist Richard Feynman, and was first introduced in 1948. The interaction of sub-atomic particles can be complex and difficult to understand intuitively. Feynman diagrams give a simple visualization of what would otherwise be a rather arcane and abstract formula. As David Kaiser writes, "since the middle of the 20th century, theoretical physicists have increasingly turned to this tool to help them undertake critical calculations", and as such "Feynman diagrams have revolutionized nearly every aspect of theoretical physics". In this Feynman diagram, an electron and a positron annihilate, producing a photon (represented by the blue sine wave) that becomes a quark–antiquark pair, after which the antiquark radiates a gluon (represented by the green helix). Opposite – community evolves from individual action AM: temporal, spatial, communal

Playing tennis “Set” “Game” “Advantage” “Deuce” “Love” “…” Communal identifiers “Set” “Game” “Advantage” “Deuce” “Love” “…” No doubt there is coordination in play here! AM: temporal, spatial, communal

Coordination! Communalization Björn Borg Tennis-playing Tennis-playing No doubt there is coordination in play here! Drawing on all the communal identifiers AM: temporal, spatial, communal Temporalizing Spatializing Stabilizing Objectivating

Evolution of communal identifiers Hawk eye since 2006

Some implications The conceptualization of biomechanical capacities as activity modalities provides a foundation for both linguistic and non-linguistic coordination Communal identifiers result from 1st order circumstantial acts The illusory stability of communal identifiers allows them to be conceived as 2nd order abstractions, suitable for systematization and analysis. All three kinds of factors in the communicational infrastructure are open-ended, never settled and changing