From System to Skill: Palo Alto Group’s Contested Legacy of Communication

Authors

  • Yonatan Fialkoff The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Amit Pinchevski The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Keywords:

Palo Alto group, communication skills, communication theory, communication culture, cybernetics, self-help

Abstract

In the past few decades, the notion of “communication skills” has become increasingly dominant in cultural discourse, as such skills are deemed crucial for success in seemingly various professional occupations and in diverse aspects of an individual’s life. This study traces the development of the notion of communication as skills that emerged from the theoretical and experimental work of the Palo Alto group in the 1950s and 1960s. It analyzes the shift from the cybernetic, system-oriented, and technology-inspired conceptualization of communication by the group to the current widespread perception of communication as a self-centered, emotions-directed, reflexive and conscious set of skills. The study argues that, more than a misrepresentation of the group’s ideas, this shift reflects a tension already embedded in the work of the Palo Alto group between theorizing and practicing communication.

Author Biographies

Yonatan Fialkoff, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Yonatan Fialkoff is a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication and Journalism at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. His dissertation focuses on notions and practices concerning interpersonal communication skills in modern Western culture -- the historical roots of this phenomenon, as well as its social manifestations, cultural meanings and normative implications.  +972506861062

Amit Pinchevski, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Amit Pinchevski is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. His research interests are in theory and philosophy of communication and media, focusing on the ethical aspects of communication; media witnessing, memory and trauma; and pathologies of communication and their construction. His latest book, Transmitted Wounds: Media and the Mediation of Trauma (Oxford University Press, 2019), received the Outstanding Book Award from the Israel Communication Association.  +972524440645

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Published

2022-12-29

Issue

Vol. 17 (2023)

Section

Articles

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