SNA is primarily about discovering the relationships between people. The intriguing (obvious) question is WHY certain members of a group become hubs and WHAT personality/behavior characteristics they exhibit in common with other hubs. Not surprisingly I'm not the first to ask this question! (doh!)
Unlike digital networks ("a series of tubes") which process information in a hierarchical and rigidly predictable way, humans communicate using idiosyncratic rules. As a rough guide only about 20 percent of the communications we produce are under our conscious control. Eighty percent is guided and shaped unconsciously. We blush, guffaw, stammer, fidget, look into the distance, as we select terms and expressions based on our unique history and the impact we hope to produce in those we are communicating with. Similarly, 80% of the messages we receive are unconsciously filtered, generalized, and distorted.
Clearly, great communicators have some heightened ability to understand others and be understood by them in turn.
Since at least the 50's (Noam Chomsky) and many others have attempted to understand the sources, structure, and use of language. In the broadest sense these original insights have been absorbed into the NLP movement, and if you can get through the humbo-jumbo it's worth the effort.
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