Looking Out/Looking In Chapters 1 and 2 Review

Chapter One of Looking Out/Looking In stresses on how important it is for people to communicate and develop relationships. People that have been isolated from others for long periods of time have described as painful. A lack of close relationships can cause physical health problems, such as rising levels of stress hormones, that can affect one's body the same way as heart disease. People that have healthy relationships are more likely to live longer. Personal communication is essential for our well being. Many studies have shown that people that socialize and communicate effectively are happier.

There are different views of communication. The two main recognized ones are the linear view and the transactional view. The linear view states that for every communication there is a sender, a receiver, a message, a channel, and encoding. The transactional view states a similar idea, except that there is communicators instead of a sender and receiver. The communicators transmit and receive messages simultaneously.

There are truths of communication, and here are several. Communication is irreversible. It is impossible not to communicate. Communication is unrepeatable. There is no one ideal way to communicate.

Chapter Two deals with how one views them self. This includes: moods, appearances, social traits, talents, intellect, strong beliefs, social role, physical condition. I have compiled a list for myself:
Mood: I am generally happy.
Appearance: Tall, brown haired white male
Social traits: I am generally reserved.
Talents I have: I am musical. I play the banjo, the dobro, and the guitar. I am athletic, and prefer individual sports like surfing, snowboarding, hiking, biking.
Talents I do not have: I am not a good singer.
Intellect: I am smart but not always wise.
Strong Beliefs: I am a Seventh Day Adventist and a libertarian.
Physical Condition: I am in shape.

Self-esteem is how one evaluates their self worth. The self-esteem of one determines how they feel about their qualities. People with a high self-esteem tend to have a positive cycle of communication behavior. It is usually better to have a high self-esteem, but an exaggerated self-esteem may lead to an unrealistic view of one's self. Self-esteem can be the starting point for self-fulfilling prophecies.