Communication not directly involving the
head or, by extension, the body. This includes any form of internet
chat aswell as, technically, letters. The significance of it is that the lack of emotion and
tone inputs into decapitated conversations can cause serious miscommunications. A simple example is the difficulty of conveying
sarcasm via writing. While not impossible, it is much more difficult than when talking to someone. Importantly, decapitated communication is not the same as long distance communication, as many luddites will have you believe. Video chatting, for instance, is not decapitated. Neither is simply talking on the phone. In both of these cases, there is direct input of the
head - in the case of the phone, it is only voice but it is
still sufficient to make communication much more seamless.
Emoticons were a
noble attempt at overcoming the barriers of decapitated communication, despite achieving only limited
success.
The limitations of decapitated communication make discussions about
emotional situations, such as relationships, clumsy and often unsuccessful. It is because of decapitation that such conversations can often take a turn for the worse.