Communication Has a Consequence
This characteristic implies that when you receive a message, something happens to you. Also, all of your messages to one degree or another do something to someone else. This is not a philosophical or metaphysical theory, but a biological fact. It is impossible not to respond to the sounds and actions of others. The response you make to someone’s message does not have to be immediate. You can respond minutes, day, or even years later.
For example, your second-grade teacher may have asked you to stop throwing rocks at a group of birds. Perhaps the teacher added that the birds were part of a family and were gathering food for their babies. She might also have indicated that birds feel pain just like people. Perhaps twenty years later, as you think about eating an animal, you remember those words from your teacher and decide to become a vegetarian.
It is important to remember the power of your messages and to consider the ethical consequences of your communication actions. For whether or not you want to grant those consequences, you are changing people each time you exchange messages with them.