Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL

combination of features or events, and it works as such only if this interrelation is somehow
reflected in the memory of the organism. If swallows fly low – then the rain will come. If the sun is
red – then the wind will blow. That smile of the boss means that something bad will happen. And
so on.
Naturally, what is a signal for one organism may not be a signal for another, unless they have a
similarity of corresponding domains in their memories. The similarity may be conditioned by the
same life experience or by somehow exchanged and equalized memories in the course of specific
interaction.
As soon as a signal comes to represent the situation, the corresponding phenomenon will be
something that is specific for the particular situation, and not for any significantly different one.
When a certain signal links in the memory with only one possible reaction (remember stereotype
behaviour?) then it plays the role of stimulus. For a frog the stimulus is a small dark flying object.
For a seagull, the taste of fish means food which should be eaten fast before it is taken away.
Stimulus switches the corresponding reaction immediately, as soon as it is recognized.
Recognizable behaviour of another organism may also act as signal, for example when one
behaves as if it had found food or detects danger. In a community of organisms, providing they
are able to use certain behavioural patterns as signals to identify the situation, the sensory
potential of each organism somehow multiplies by the number of organisms in the community. A
signal from one organism to another may create a certain discernable element of reality. That
element could be a particular attribute of the organism that ‘sends’ (or rather ‘demonstrates’) the
signal. Its smell, its cry, its smile…
A noise is any physical phenomenon that interferes with a signal or reduces perception by an
organism. Thus, any phenomena that cannot be recognized as a signal, just creates noise. Of
course, what is noise for one may be full of important content for someone else.
Codes and languages
One organism may also send a signal to another to intentionally generate perceptible phenomenon
(artificial signal), which is not physically linked with the situation, but possesses a certain meaning.
Meaning is assigned to the artificial signal conventionally – the same artificial signal, in principle,
may have different meanings, or the same meaning may be transferred by different artificial
signals. Natural signals mean only what they mean.
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