The Frame Game

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.