Enactive cognition, cultural values, and communication among hyper-reflexive, non-trivial machines: A systems analysis of Internet-mediated dialogue

Generative dialogue represents a viable methodology for members of social systems to co-create shared understanding and deep meaning. Shared understanding is a process whereby communicators reach agreement about intellectual concepts. Deep meaning is a process whereby participants resonate on an emotional level. The co-creation of meaning is a characteristic of human beings that computers cannot emulate. Human beings are non-trivial machines whose actions are unpredictable. They engage in enactive cognition that relies upon their embodied existence. They are also hyper-reflexive, such that they can re-assign new meaning to past events.; The majority of extant research on dialogue concerns face-to-face dialogue. Given the sharp rise in Internet usage worldwide, global citizens have the opportunity to participate in dialogue on a mass scale. Internet-mediated dialogue has characteristics that set it apart from face-to-face dialogue and it therefore warrants further research.; The present research employed quantitative and qualitative methodologies to gain an understanding of Internet-mediated dialogue. The researcher collected data from 17 online, dyadic dialogues and accompanying questionnaires. A chi-square analysis of questionnaire data determined a link at the alpha = .10 level between subjects' individualistic or collectivistic cultural values and their perception of shared understanding and deep meaning for one of ten of questions analyzed.; A grounded theory analysis of dialogue data yielded a theory of Internet-mediated generative dialogue. The theory outlines the conditions, actions, and consequences of this mode of dialogue. It identifies certain environmental conditions and participant actions that led to the consequences of either resonance or dissonance among participants.; The grounded theory analysis also yielded system-environment, functions/structure, and process/behavioral models of Internet-mediated dialogue. These models paint a rich picture of this type of dialogue. For example, dialogues tended to progress in distinctive stages marked by increasing stability. Participants tended to mirror each other's statements. And, the appearance of comparatively original thought varied from dialogue to dialogue.; The present research can serve to educate participants about what constitutes effective action in Internet-mediated dialogue. It can also serve to guide dialogue sponsors to create design methodologies that lead to conditions conducive to successful dialogue experiences.