Technology, Ethics and Society -- Tagmemics Fields

Technology, Ethics and Society

The Tagmemic Approach

"Tagmemics is a method of finding things out, of conceptualizing reality, and it is this method of conceptualization, rather than the tagmeme as an all-purpose tool, that [a guy named] Pike has brought to composition" (182). In "Rhetoric: Discovery and Change," Young, Becker, and Pike argue the communication is a response to perceived misunderstanding or division" (182). Their first maxim for approaching any topic lies in understanding that ‘people conceive of the world in terms of repeatable units’ (26), and those units are part of a larger system for ‘units of experience are hierarchically structured systems" (29). At any level of focus, a unit ‘can be adequately understood only if three aspects of the unit are known:

its contrastive features [what makes it different from other similar things?]
its range of variation [how can the subject be variously defined and still remain itself?]
its distribution in larger contexts [what slot or place does the unit occupy in a larger pattern?]’ (56);

hence a unit of experience can be viewed ‘as particle, or as a wave, or as a field’ (122). And ‘change between units can occur only over a bridge of shared features, the prerequisites for interaction and change’ (172).

There is, in the process of discovery, a three-aspect method, the parts of which are not mutually exclusive of one another.

	Static	Dynamic
Particle perspective: what it is	It deals with the unit’s static nature, ignoring changes in time. It arbitrarily specifies boundaries. It isolates the unit from its surroundings.	It selects from a dynamic whole one "bit," usually the central bit, for presentation.
Wave perspective: what it does	It points out the central component of the unit. It emphasizes the fusion, flow, or lack of distinct boundaries between the unit and other units.	It recognizes some dynamic function of the unit, noting spatial, chronological, or conceptual movement or flow.
Field perspective: its impact on other things	It is seen not as isolated but as occupying a place in a system of some kind. It is seen as a system itself, composed of subsystems.	It realizes that its inception and end have an impact on the inception and end of other things.

	Static	Dynamic
Unit in Contrast	View the unit holistically as an undifferentiated isolated entity. What feature(s) serve to differentiate the unit from other similar things?	View the unit as a dynamic process, object, or event. What process of change occurred to create the unit? How is it changing currently? What will happen to it in the future? What feature(s) serve to differentiate the unit from similar processes, objects or events?
Unit as a System	View the unit as composed of separable component parts. What are the components of the unit? How are the components organized in relation to each other? What is the structure of the system?	View the unit as composed of dynamic separable component parts. How were the parts formed? What will happen to each in the future? Do different parts change at different rates? What does change in a particular part do to the overall system? How is the structure of the system changing?
Unit in a System	View the unit as part in a larger system. What are the other components in the larger system? How are these components organized in relation to each other? What is the structure of the system?	View the unit as dynamic part of a larger dynamic system. How was the larger system created? How is it currently changing? What will happen to it in the future? How does change in the larger system affect the unit? How does change in the unit affect the larger system? How is the structure changing?