When you look at the high and low context, you realize you need both of them.
You can’t choose between those two contexts.
Why not? Well for example I’ll take the high context. Almost everybody has a facebook-accout. We “need” this because we like to talk about our lives in a familiar way.
You only talk about your live with people you know. Off course, this is relative. There are so many people who have 1000 or more “friends” on facebook. But does this means they are true friends? Off course not. But this is not the right place to discuss that. I only say this to give an example for the high context.
In general, nobody can miss these contact on facebook.
In some way, it’s a sad fact. I suppose that for some people their live turned into facebook. That’s really sad. You need your real life.
That takes me to the low context.
The low context is rule oriented. Using codes and signs is a typical thing for the low context.
We need this too! For example: the Justitiepaleis in Antwerp.
There are rules here for being there. You need to live for those rules.
If you don’t, you will be denied access or you will be asked to leave the building.
This is a good thing. This is a place where just can’t do whatever you want.
There are convicts and victims here. It’s normal that the Justitiepaleis wants to protect both parties.
Off course there are a lot of ‘other’ persons here. For example: a divorce. This also is a jurisdiction of the Justitiepaleis. If everybody does whatever they want to do, it will be a chaos. A chaos that can’t be fixed. There is a lot of disappointment and happiness in this building. Disappointment for the person who ‘lost’ and happiness for the person who ‘won’.
This is a situation that leads into chaos. This has to be prevented. They do that by those rules.
Conclusion: if they don’t have those rules, it will turn into a large chaos and that will give those persons a lot of more problems they already have.
So by this said: you need both contexts!
You can’t live without one of those two contexts.
We definitely need both contexts. Without them our world would be a choas. But these contexts may be different, of course. If we go to India is what is for them High context for us low context so we would get to know there culture and more.. So Yes we need it both, just to get along together.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenMieke,
BeantwoordenVerwijderenYou give two nice examples. Most students and people have an account on facebook. When people have a lots of friends, usually they don't know all this people. But you talk in a low context with these virtual friends.
The example of a low context is also a nice examploe, because many students of us, visit this building. And as mentioned we don't know the rules.
CONCLUSION: Indeed, we need both contexts!!
Greets
Gitty