ThinkSimpleNow.com talks about how these common phrases can really be limiting:
Do you find yourself saying the words I’m sorry or I don’t know often? Did you know that this over-sighted language pattern is actually limiting our potential to happiness and ultimately getting what we want?…
The language we use is incredibly powerful. It is a direct command into our unconscious mind. Whether we realize it or not, or it was spoken casually or not, our unconscious mind is listening. Your unconscious mind takes notes even when you’re not paying attention.
You can read the full article and analysis.
Words matter. Words matter, because words create consequences.
In our culture there are some words people use to scare each other. There are some words people use to disrupt the flow of a conversation in progress. There are some words people use to inhibit thoughtful exploration and to inhibit mature, engaged dialog.
In our culture, many of those scare words end with -ism.
Contributed by etbnc - Filed in
Language
Occasionally I encounter people who dismiss my interest in frame language by saying something like, “Oh, that’s just rhetoric. The Greeks and Romans invented that stuff centuries ago.”
To me that seems accurate, but also incomplete and insufficient to dismiss current work in the fields of rhetoric, frames, and persuasive language. I find it much easier to persuade people to read new books and to visit web sites operated by people who are alive and talking.
The Word Nerds, for example, record their conversations about language and offer podcasts every couple of weeks. In this recent conversation they examine modern political rhetoric.
So when people tell me that Cicero was the man for political rhetoric, I say, “Yeah, but as far as I know, Cicero ain’t got no podcast.”
Debate is bad.
Debate is often bad.
Debate is often counterproductive.
Many debates are counterproductive.
Many debates seem counterproductive to me.
It seems to me that debate often brings out the worst in people.
I find this consequence of debate frustrating, sad, distracting, and counterproductive.
To be continued … See also:
e-prime
Contributed by etbnc - Filed in
Language
“In order to understand what another person is saying, you must assume that it is true and try to imagine what it could be true of.”
- George Miller
“The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.”
- Socrates
Words matter. Words have consequences. Words create outcomes.
Demi Moore, on having children:
Once you hit three, when you’re outnumbered, it’s really, like, what’s the difference between (three or) four or five?
Well, I guess if you’ve already got a vehicle that holds “3 to 5 children,” the exact numbers aren’t too significant. But maybe when couched in terms of ecological footprint, it matters a little more, even when you’re a Hollywood star and may be more disconnected from the resources required to have and raise each child.
Many people give thoughtful consideration to whether or not to have kids at all. I hope that we are also giving thoughtful consideration to how many kids to have.
The Georgia Dept. of Transportation removed 488 small towns from its 2006 state highway map. In its attempt to explain this deletion the Georgia DOT’s statement to CNN describes many of those towns as “placeholders“. CNN notes the towns generally comprise “fewer than 2,500 people”.
Attention, you 2500 persons: You may have thought you lived in a town, but it’s really a placeholder.
Ouch!
But wait, there’s more. CNN’s web site teaser describes the towns as “microscopic“.
So, how many people can dance on the head of a microscopic placeholder?
Apparently, as many as 2,500.
Author and playwright Robert Anton Wilson writes about Understanding E-Prime, the notion of abolishing all forms of the verb “to be”. It has some interesting thoughts on how “semantic hygiene” can lead to a better life:
To understand E-Prime, consider the human brain as a computer…The wrong software guarantees wrong answers. Conversely, finding the right software can “miraculously” solve problems that previously appeared intractable. It seems likely that the principal software used in the human brain consists of words, metaphors, disguised metaphors, and linguistic structures in general. The Sapir-Whorf-Korzybski Hypothesis, in anthropology, holds that a change in language can alter our perception of the cosmos. A revision of language structure, in particular, can alter the brain as dramatically as a psychedelic. In our metaphor, if we change the software, the computer operates in a new way.
Thanks to Mark Stosberg for the link.
