This video has a few controversial topics. These are impossible to avoid, however, if we are going to truly address language's management of difficult ideas. Euphemisms cover, conceal, and soften delicate subjects. Are there times it is appropriate to obscure reality? Should we own what we say? Is there a benefit to ambiguity?
This video explores blatant propaganda
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What are the consequences of communication? When you become the parents, authorities, and decision makers, how will you use language/communication to
indoctrinate the next generation? (Is using that word fair?)
How does context matter in terms of language?
I am constantly surprised that behind the violence, or money, or heartbreak, or joy of life, words reside. Can you explain or give an example of the power of words/communication?
Consequences of communication vary depending on the situation. Each word we say, and the way we say it has a specific meaning. It's not solely the words we say that convey what we mean. If our actions convey something that is interpreted differently by the listener than the speaker, you face the bad consequences of a miscommunication. Sometimes, these are trivial and can be quickly recovered from. Others, however, can devastate relationships. When you have a dominant relationship with the "next generation", you can indoctrinate them through language by teaching them to be aware of the messages they send (both verbally and physically), and how to communicate effectively.
ReplyDeleteContext matters in terms of language because a statement or question can have an entirely different meaning based on the situation in which it is said or posed.
Words are perceived as the rawest and truest form of human expression. You can not attain a more direct form of communication than speaking, and therefore they carry an immense amount of weight. Once something is said, it is fairly difficult to forget it. This is why you must think about what you say before you say it, otherwise you might find yourself in a problem caused simply by a miscommunication!
I think the Walt Disney video is incredibly interesting. In an attempt to highlight the use of Nazi propaganda Disney is using blatant propaganda obviously targeted at children just the same. The animation style alone that depicts all German authority figures as massive, hulking, and constantly infuriated serves to demonize Germany just as the story of sleeping beauty there was supposed to demonize democracy and the United States through the witch.
ReplyDeleteI believe that many attempts at indoctrination still exist in the United States today, however successful they may be. One form that I have always found to be astounding occurs in the health component of physical education. In the curriculum abstinence alone is taught. Activities are framed as if with the precondition that all students and their families believe that abstinence is the only moral choice for young people and unmarried adults. I remember a worksheet I was instructed to complete in middle school that was supposed to be answered by my family and I after we'd discussed each of the questions. The prompts included such things as "explain why your family believes abstinence is the best choice for emotional and physical health." Of course this is absolutely ridiculous. Many Americans who are quite physically and emotional healthy did not practice abstinence prior to marriage and have no intention of changing that in the morals they pass along to their children. However, the health curriculum using activities such as this that command language in a way that supposes that all families preach this and almost in a way that seems to condemn those who don't. This is a form of attempted indoctrination that has become quite ingrained in the public school system and surely won't budge any time soon.
Communication is an absolutely vital asset to society. Through connecting to others we are able to build and share ideas; a process which translates into innovation. The absence of a means or form of communication would prohibit the creation of any type of social structure. This being said, "social structures" are not reflections of reality, but instead a way for us to better survive and function within our environment. It follows that the set of values which correspond to any given social structure may very well be flawed. So when communication is used to perpetuate these values, as it naturally is, consequences may arise. From birth, (as the above "education for death" video points out), we are "indoctrinated" both by our parents, and by our society. It is from these sources that we learn how to function and fit in with our community. The lessons and ideals which children absorb at this young age define who they will become. These ideals inevitably include the biases/prejudices of their mentors. These factors reveal the circular nature of communication; functioning both as an asset to societal progress, and a means of conserving flawed morals and beliefs.
ReplyDeleteThere are a variety of consequences for communication. Some are positive, and some are negative, and it all depends on the circumstance (or circumstances) at hand. Communication can be used as a vehicle for propaganda, as seen in the Walt Disney clip above, which is almost always going to have negative consequences, but communication can also have several positive consequences as well. Communication defines how we learn, how we relate to one another, and how we understand ourselves, which are all vital components of society, as most would probably agree. Although there are many negatives associated with communication, those negatives are outweighed by the positives. This is because the positives delineate who we are, and the negatives comprise only a small niche in our individual and collective personalities.
ReplyDeleteThe most valuable question Mr. C poses in this post is the power of words/communication. In my opinion, communication is one of the most powerful devices we have at our disposal. The reasons that communication is so powerful include that it is extremely accessible, and it carries an immense amount of weight if it is being dispensed by a reputable source. For example, the vast majority (if not all) of the ToK class in first period listened as Mr. C explained the guidelines of the March project. The explanation Mr. C provided was a form of communication, and it provided valuable information regarding something that was important to everyone in the class. This is an extremely basic (yet pertinent) example of why communication is such a powerful tool, because it is the central cog on the machine that is known as society, and if it was non-existent, society would fall apart.
Communication is, as already stated, an extremely important and prevalent in our culture and society. That being said, I hold the strong belief that "actions speak louder than words." This is particularly noteworthy form of communication because it's generally the most honest and accurate. It's important to trust other's actions over their words, especially in communicating with other generations.
ReplyDeleteCommunication is a very important part of our life, and society. There is consequences to words. Sometimes they are bad and sometimes good. Walt Disney uses communication as propaganda at Nazis showing how strict and brutal they were right from the beginning of their lives. This clip had bad consequences. There is also bad consequences even if you don't mean to, if someone takes your words to seriously or not what you mean. There is also good consequences to communication. Communication helps grow and learn the stuff we need, gives us entertainment and many other things. Personally I think actions are more important to words. If you can show someone or people what you mean or want to portray showing them will make them side or believe you more easily than words will do.
ReplyDeleteBecause communication can come in so many ways, to share knowledge, it doesn't have to strictly be shared through words but can be shown through demonstrations. Everyone owns what they say, not what we all say. We say the same language, words, and meanings, but those specifically aren't ours unless they come out of our mouths directly to other people. We have been taught how to communicate with others growing up since before adolescence but we all view acquiring facts and knowledgeable help different ways. Each of us has learned to stand for what we believe and accept information to the best of our understanding. Poor Hans did what was natural to care for the less fortunate (bunny) but through lack of freedom (of speech), he had no room to grow as his own being because he had to suffer ridiculous consequences. For the future, communication will be just as important as it always has. Without communication, we (as in all humanoid earthlings) would be drastically behind in society and industrially. We wouldn't be able to learn what is right or wrong, good or bad without witnessing and experiencing ourselves what consequences come with life. Our young adults and late teenagers need to start processing what we have learned and understand to where we can later share our knowledge with younger generations to help the future become a better, closer society and focus on the less understood areas adding up eventually for them to advance their knowledge in that and then share their unknowns to the generations before them and so on so forth... Then of course, there will always be more consequences to knowing "too much" and passing what is simply most necessary for the basic human needs.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to whether or not what is said should be ambiguous or not, I believe that there is a benefit from the things which are said being not as complex. A BBC article, a year ago, reported on this question. The results were pretty interesting, it turns out that if our language was complex with each word having only one meaning we as humans would struggle to communicate and spread ideas between each other. Ambiguity actually makes language more efficient in that words which have less syllables and words which are easier to pronounce can be “reused”, avoiding the need for a vast and increasingly complex vocabulary. This ambiguous form of communication which we have developed has benefited the world, in the spread of ideas, much more than the average person thinks.
ReplyDeleteCommunication is the act of exchanging ideas, or in other words it is the process of telling someone how you sea something to be. Throughout history it can be seen that communication can be used for both good and bad. In the case of history it is usually in times of war when in idea is trying to be spread throughout a country, which we can see in the Walt Disney clip. I feel that in the future no matter what we say now, we all are going to try our hardest to persuade people to follow along with an idea which we have. Sadly this involves indoctrinating people because if the people are not indoctrinated then they will never have your idea planted into their mind. Context and situation definitely matter in the power in which a word has. This can be seen when comparing the speech of someone who is calmed and relaxed with someone that is stressed, they both may say some of the same things, but the power in which they say it has a very different affect on those listening. Words act in a way which allow us to communicate with others and tell they how we feel, whether we are angry or joyful, we use words to communicate with people and ventilate how we are feeling. Words and the form of communication will always be important to society, without them we would grow independent of each other and ultimately society itself would fall apart.
Communication, from the earliest times to the present age, cannot be overstressed how important it is. Civilization and society depends on communication to progress by the sharing of knowledge amongst each other so we know what works or doesn’t work. However human communication is strange because we don’t always express what we truly mean. For example the use of ambiguity in arguments can lead to incorrect conclusions and can be used to purposefully conceal bad arguments, or a politician would use ambiguity so the constituent will interpret the politician’s statement in the more desirable way, but this can also have a reverse affect and turn a positive statement into a bad one. Either way we have grown accustomed to this way of communicating as a buffer from harsher truths.
ReplyDeleteCommunication is essential in society, for many reasons. Communication gives people an opportunity to express their specific ideology, opinions, and their overall understanding of a given topic. Without communication our world could not function or advance at the rate it does today. Communication involves pros and cons, however the pros significantly outweigh the cons. Walt Disney uses communication propaganda as a form of expression to show how the Nazis were exceedingly hateful they were.
ReplyDeleteWords are one of the most powerful tools that we as humans possess, but I think the problem with words is that they are underestimated. Words are more than a means of communication, they can shape our beliefs, behaviors, feelings and ultimately our actions. Writer Erin Richards said, "It's not what you say, but what people hear." Also Dr. Frank Luntz describes communication based on feeling rather than information. “80 percent of our life is emotion, and only 20 percent is intellect." I believe this gives some evidence that communication happens emotionally and intellectually but words are underestimated in our everyday society as being central to thought and behavior processing as well as decision making. This other way of looking at words shows just how powerful communication as it affects and is affected by many inner and outer factors.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Martinez-
ReplyDeleteAs human beings, we communicate using words put together in our native tongues. Language is a very powerful tool that we have to communicate Ideas, thoughts, etc. But language can also be misunderstood creating problems and other inconveniences. Also because of the tongue, wars have been started and much of the problems around us are because of the tongue. People in power misuse their tongues and abuse to cary out orders that cause problems. When in authority, the way to indoctrinate I would say in my opinion, would be to use our words wisely and teach later generations of the powerful uses of language, for the good and the bad, these generations should know the power of it and teach them how to use it.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching both of these videos, especially the first one. I think that it's striking that our way of communication is so muddled and evasive, not only in english, but in, (I would assume), most other languages. One thing that absolutely fascinates me about language is how it affects thought. It's not surprising to see that language affects how we think, after all, our earliest memories are formed only as we learn to talk. We also think about things in our own language.
ReplyDeleteNow interesting part comes from the large amount of diversity of all the tongues around the world. Lera Broditsky wrote a fascinating essay on the ways that languages play into one's thinking. For example, in the paper, she discusses a study in which people were asked to describe space. English speakers did comparatively better than speakers of Spanish or Greek, because, she claims, the English language puts emphasis on the duration of things. (i.e., That was a long movie, or, I hope the meeting will be short.) In Spanish and Greek, the language utilized more size-related diction. (i.e., That was a big movie, I hope the meeting will be little.) As such, when subjects were tested on their abilities dealing with size and spacial relationships, Greek and Spanish speakers did comparatively better than English. It's a fascinating essay, and not too long of a read, I highly recommend it.
http://edge.org/conversation/how-does-our-language-shape-the-way-we-think
In this day and age, words carry so much more weight than they ever have before. We have access to more information and more news across the globe than we ever have before. With this in mind, it is sometimes completely necessary to not learn or state all of the horrible details in order to get the point across. If one knew of all of the details and in and outs of the war in Afghanistan, one would go insane because no one can live with knowing all that happened in the war day in and day out without being affected emotionally and politically by the events. This goes along with the nature of ambiguity in our lives, because most everything relates to the opinion, perspective and bias one has regarding an event, a person or an ideal. There is not one thing in this world that someone does not have an opinion on and by being ambiguous, it opens the door for these opinions to flourish. When opinions are shut down and considered to be incorrect, many conflicts arise and it becomes a larger issue. In my opinion, we should use ambiguity to more in order to not only protect the opinions of others but also to make people think about their own personal beliefs and opinions so that our nation does not just follow the beliefs that their friends and family have.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are many consequences that result from the words that are spoken without thinking. There have been many instances across the globe and even in daily life where someone says something controversial or extremely important that affects people and life in general so that there is some type of change or reform. When words become so important, adults begin to indoctrinate young children without even knowing it. Although adults have the most impact on children as they generally have higher authority over children, anyone can indoctrinate children, especially their peers. Many children want to be like those their age, making them follow the words and actions that the kids who are well-liked by their peers. All of this relates to the fact that everything is based on context. Some ideas are, in my opinion, more relevant and more important than others and that gives them more weight. These ideas that I have brought up fit into the category with the more important issues and ideas, because those are the ones that people will remember more than anything and they will remember in particular the way they felt on these issues. Overall, I would say that all of our issues come down to problems with communication and if we were able to find a way to communicate that was easier to say things that are important without bias, the world would be a happier place.
The Disney movie was disappointing in many ways, and not just because of its hypocrisy in condemning indoctrination when the film itself is a piece of propaganda. At first I was hoping it would analyze the history of Germany to find out how an entire country could be pushed to such extremes. Instead I saw a shallow depiction a single generic child being indoctrinated by vilified characters whose motives are completely ignored. The problem with communication and language in particular is its limitation when conveying feelings and experiences between people. This film is a good example of not only a failure to humanize the subject, but to actively alienate them into a faceless other, as portrayed by the boy in adulthood, or any of the Nazi party characters in the story. Without understanding the feelings, experiences, and motivations of an extremist group, it is impossible to defeat their ideology. For instance the Marshall Plan provided relief after the Second World War which the Treaty of Versailles never gave after the first. By understanding other groups as human beings, you take the first step towards reconciliation.
ReplyDeleteVocal communication, as shown by these two videos, is clearly important for any interaction in any society there is. Directness and clearness in communication are also very important, simply because if everything was ambiguous all the time, then nobody would ever know what anyone else is saying, and one person saying "hi" could be miles different than the next. You need directness in communication to actually communicate. That said, ambiguity can be helpful to, although I think it's probably only helpful on an individual level, and not helpful for a society's communication.
ReplyDeleteContext matters in terms in communication for the same reason as ambiguity/directness matters. The meaning of anything you say to anyone can be different if the context is different. For example, if an acquaintance's mom was just murdered by you, and they know that you just murdered their mother, and you know that they know that you murdered their mother, and they know that you know that they know that you murdered their mother and you ask "How is your mother doing?" Then obviously they can assume that you are teasing them in some way that you murdered their mother, without outright saying it, or "putting it out there." This is different than when you've just passed by their mother on the street, and they know that you've just passed by their mother on the street, and you know that they know that you've just passed by their mother on the street, and they know that you know that they know that you've just passed by their mother on the street. In this scenario, they can assume when you ask "How is your mother doing?" that you are inquiring about their mother's well being because you've just seen them.
Thus, ambiguity and context go hand in hand in everyday communication, and are essential to communication overall.
Communication is essential for life. With out communications the world would not be able to grow. There is no such thing of a world with no communication. You must be careful of how you use communication. If you say a phrase with a wrong tone or wording others may see what you say in a different way. You must realize that in every conversation someone will hear what you say and take it in differently, even in day to day conversations. You must realize that words are more powerful than many think. Words are underestimated. Words are one of the strongest things on the plant and before communication you must think of what you are going to say and what words will make the most sense. If you do this then your communication will be clear.
ReplyDeleteInnuendo and ambiguity each have the capability to either hinder or increase efficiency within communication. It is a biological fact that humans pick up on the nonverbal cues and body language of other humans to a degree that we are oftentimes unaware of. In this instance then, to be ambiguous or to utilize innuendo in combination with obvious nonverbal cues is perhaps as effective as saying something in a manner which is curt and without room for interpretation. Conversely, however, there is a certain efficiency in being blunt and leaving out ambiguity which can make communication both more clear and much easier. This level of bluntness though is of course often considered to be rude and frequently demands a prior level of comfort with the person that you are communicating with which is generally not present in the majority of our day-to-day tasks of communication.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most interesting topics which was addressed in the first video was this idea that once something is said, "you can't take it back, it's out in the open now." I believe I would agree with this statement in the short term but I think I am holistically unable to agree with it in the long term. So much of what we say is so shrouded in ambiguity and is left so open to interpretation for this reason exactly, to say something which cannot be 'taken back' in the future is terrifying. Therefore there is a certain degree of undermining that will occur in nearly everything which somebody says. Making fun of themselves, of others, moving past the subject, making light of the situation, or making a contradictory facial expression are all ways in which people constantly undermine their own words so as to be able to ignore the implications and weight of what they have just said. Communication, at it's very core, is really just a skill formed in deception and disillusionment. I guess for this reason, the things which can be said without any form of ulterior motive or undermining are the most true and the most worth saying.
I am often amazed by the power that people assign to words. A word is nothing but a garbled collection of syllables repeated so often that they sound normal. As such, words have no objective meaning. Say a word of English to someone who only speaks Japanese, and they will not understand you. No matter how derogatory, evil, or otherwise "bad" the word is considered, it will have the same effect on them; confusion at why you are not speaking in a recognizable tongue. It is the idea behind the word that gives them meaning--be it good or bad. As such, context is essentially everything and nothing simultaneously when it comes to words. While context shouldn't matter, as language is but a tool to express an idea, as people we have somehow come to the false assumption that it should. Why does "car" mean "an automobile" and not "a ripe fruit"? Now this is obvious from what is intended, the idea drives the tool--language. Thus euphemisms are pointless. They obscure the word, the meaningless device to carry the thought, and not the thought itself. The only way they 'cover-up' a sensitive issue is in the same sense that the People's Republic of China 'covered-up' the Tienanmen Square Massacre. They obscured any way of transferring the idea, media or otherwise, but not the idea itself. People were unfairly massacred either way, censorship or not, but just like with euphemisms, the idea--in this case the massacre--is only reinforced by its being obscured. The same can be said for indoctrination. It is the ideas at fault for indoctrination, words are tools to relay the indoctrination to the people. Why do you think governments rely on pictures over words for propaganda? Because, on a usually subconscious level, people understand words are just words. Pictures give them a concrete notion to hold onto, and believe in.
ReplyDeleteIn the immortal words of YC the Cynic, "I see it as words having power if you let 'em have power... I ain't letting no term control me... As if it was your meaning that was holding me back... But there's always somebody trying to overreact."
An interesting concept in terms of the role of words as a means of expression is that of societal connotation. In different contexts words can be taken to mean drastically different things. The idea of a single word being used as either a means of reclaiming empowerment or propagating oppression is one that often occurs in our society. There are several examples of words that have in the past and today been used to demean others, yet have been reclaimed by those same groups they were once negatively directed towards as a method of control and empowerment. Although I personally feel that this reclaiming does not counter the original intent or eradicate past connotations, it is no undoubtedly an example of the fluidity of language and the way individual words can evolve over time in a culture.
ReplyDeleteCommunication is something that we as people have always been unaccountably fascinated with. We like to learn new languages, and rediscover those of lost civilizations. However it should be said that the subtleties of communication is specific from language to language. If one is not a native speaker, it can be very hard to catch the innuendos and interpret body language correctly to piece together the conversation. We don't realize just how much of our communication is veiled through innuendos or body language, but a lot of factors go into everything most people say. I think we do this because words really are just the expression of something, whether an idea or a feeling, and there are many ways to express those things without words, and often words are inadequate. Would a threat be as intimidating if it was blatantly stated with no glower or ominous smile? If it was without the air of mystery or vaguely aggressive body language? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteWell, my comment hates to go through to this blog. Time for attempt 3. I believe that it is important to be precise to avoid ambiguity, while at the same time I think "precision of language" from the Giver, and the idea that everyone is watching. It is important to remain formal in formal situations, while it shouldn't need to be on one's mind while in situations which are informal. Well, that about wraps it up. Time to shoot this blog response in, as a person being informal would say.
ReplyDeleteI think that communication is the most important thing to society, it allows us to understand our lives and the lives around us with either non-verbal or verbal communication. Communication is key in our world because it gives us almost all of the answers we could ever need. We are surrounded with communication in our world and without it, no one would know what to do, or how to do it and any established sense of direction would be gone.
ReplyDeleteI watched the Disney video and I thought it was really interesting to see how the German society operated under the communication system for the Nazi regime. Their form of communication was used as propaganda to recruit youth in Germany to join Hitler's force. The communication between Hitler and the children was very strict and the entire recruitment and training process was unanimously accepted by almost all of Germany, because people knew that if they didn't conform to society, that they would face serious consequences. This type of communication was very effective for what Hitler was trying to achieve, but looking at it from the United States perspective it was an extremely negative action taken by the Nazis. I don't doubt that if Germany didn't lose the war that the Nazi regime would still be in place ruling over many countries with their communication standards.
The first video was awesome. I loved the animations and they way they helped to depict how language is used for communication. One thing I found interesting was the segment about the three different types of relationships humans have. I learned a little bit about this earlier in the year but it helped to clarify the idea. At first I wasn't sure if I believed the three types of relationships were all that existed, I definitely questioned that, but as I thought and explored the idea more I found that all relationships fit into one of the three categories. This concept is really interesting and I like how it puts a different perspective on language and communication.
ReplyDeleteSimply stating that communication is extremely important doesn't encompass the sheer magnitude of the complex system of collaboration human beings have the ability to operate with. I mean, there's sign language, number codes, pictographs, vocal patterns, facial expression, body language, etc. collaboration leads to progression, but conflict and disagreement leads to digression between humans. I'm finding the reply to this post to be extremely difficult. The numbers of cultural and contextual influences on language are vast. Subtle differences put the communication between individuals and groups of multiple linguistic backgrounds on different planes. By attempting to communicate with a different culture, one runs the risk of treading on a few toes rather than achieving the goal of communication.
ReplyDeletemiranda foster
DeleteLike many other people have stated, I also believe that words are necessary for modern day communication. But I also believe that we need to be weary of how our words are being construed. The connotation of words are constantly changing thus making our vernacular change with it. Take for example the word queer. The word queer, for the lack of a better term, has been refurbished. Not too long ago the word queer was offensive and used in a derogatory manner for homosexuals. Now queer is considered the politically correct term for those who are noncis-gendered and not heterosexual. As the connotation of words change, the weight of the words change as well. But alas we can never understand how other people will interpret your words. One moment you could be politely asking a friend to not interrupt you and then the next thing you know you’re being questioned by a teacher about bullying another student. Although we have an understanding about words and what their purpose/use is we can’t accurately gauge how others will react to them.
ReplyDeleteI find it so interesting that no one sees anything the exact same. It proposes questions about people's moral sight, whether anyone has the same morals as another, and how we can compare and contrast morals of ourselves to morals of others
ReplyDeleteI personally don't like ambiguity because when I listen to someone, I listen for what information they want me to know not how they say it. The way that I see it is if someone has bad news it's quicker just to rip off the bandage quick and let the person know exactly what it is.
ReplyDeleteAlong these lines I also notice how sometime people will say something offensive and say it in an ambiguous way to make it not hurt the person as much, that seems illogical because you may have done a cartwheel and a pirouette over the line, but you're still over the line.
There are so many hidden consequences to communication and how it is utilized. Communication can illuminate a persons character, or even give misgivings about another's character. It can also deceive people or enlighten them, and feelings may be expressed or veiled through it's usage. Unfortunately, indoctrination can occur unconsciously through communication, and when it comes time for our generation to influence our children by ways of communication, we wil find that society will have already done it for us. Advertisements, television, video games and the manner in which each family speaks to each other, not to mention the interactions at school, will all impact our children without us even trying. However, it will be the job of the parents to decide how to communicate to their child their views of right and wrong, because the actions of their offspring depend on how they express those opinions.
ReplyDeleteThe power of communication can depend on the attentiveness of the audience and the deliverance of the speaker. When used effectively, it can bring out a number of emotions of the listener, and persuade them to act in certain ways or do certain things. Communication also has the power to inspire, and to dissuade; it can bring people closer, or reveal their distance. You could say that communication is the connection of people's thoughts, feelings and emotions, but one question that comes out of mass communication, such as the power of media, is if this mass indoctrination of ideas is the right way to go? It is beneficial to connect ideas, but the way in which they are being communicated is questionable in its influence on society.
Everybody uses euphemisms to obtain a goal while avoiding the negative consequences of the condition. For example, if you are the coach of a kids sports team, you’re going to tell your worst player something like “well I’m impressed with your dedication,” because you still want them to try really hard. Even if the person knows that they are the worst on the team, and even if they know that by you saying “I’m impressed with your dedication” you are really just saying that there is nothing else you can praise them for, they will still be more motivated to try harder, and practice more, which is the ultimate goal of a coach, than if you, as the coach, were to say “wow you really are horrible at this.” In this situation, it’s just a sport, and in the end as a coach your main objective is to motivate kids to be active, and have fun. It’s sometimes appropriate to obscure reality.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think it is okay to obscure reality in certain cases. I think that obscuring reality is appropriate if the reality were to damage or harm another person emotionally and there was no necessity of them needing to know to the reality. For example I was never told about 9/11 when it happened because my parents chose to hide their feelings and obscure the reality the world from me. They felt it would stunt me emotionally and it has no real effect on me as a young child.
ReplyDeleteI complete believe that you should own up to what you say. If you say something, then you need to deal with the consequences. But you are allowed to change your mind. There are many benefits of ambiguity; it allows you to see that things aren’t black and white and, it is a way to bow out of consequences, because it allows the other person to interpret what you say in their own way.
The consequences of communication are that it teaches and shapes you relationships. Sometimes if your taught are shaped in a negative it will affect you negatively. In the future we will use language to hopefully indoctrinate the next generation in a positive way, so they can help the future in a hopefully positive way. Context matters in the terms of language because you can choose what context you want to talk about. As a result, of your chose of context you can inspire or you can disempower someone.
If you look at history because of Martin Luther King's inspiring words to a nation. Something that was a large part of our country's identity was changed forever. MLK's words changed the perception of a large part of our country and inspired many to stand up for what they believed in urgently.
In my opinion, there is no means of communication that can accurately describe exactly what we are thinking or what we wish to convey to another human. With this idea in mind, I believe that communication, in any form, is crude when compared to the actual thought that is conceived and that it is only a mere shadow of what we truly think. The intriguing concept about communication in humans is that we use words and images as symbols, invoking meaning into a singularity, so much so that one single image or word can make someone have emotional feelings, such as a Nazi flag or a derogatory word. It is with this concept that younger generations are ‘indoctrinated’, being exposed to these ‘communication symbol’ that alter their perception about a certain idea or group, proving that communication can be the most influential object in our decision-making and thought-processes.
ReplyDeleteI'm the kind of person who dislikes the fact that we must go through formalities to get the point across. It bothers me that I can't just say, no I'm not really in the mood to hang out and instead must lie about some prior engagement. But then again I am reminded to step back and take a look at why it is that these formalities are in place. They serve as a barrier, a cushioning between the truth and blissful ignorance. It's not just the person communicating who is telling a white lie, the receiver is also in turn choosing to believe this over the absolute truth that lies right in front of them. In essence, the politeness of modern day society allows us to lie to ourselves and remain within the comfort of our own existence.
ReplyDeleteThis morphs into the grey area of white lies. If someone says they're ugly should you tell them that, "Yeah, you're right, that's a bummer, huh?" or should you allow both of you to continue to exist peacefully in the delicate realm of the known lie and instead say the obvious, "No you're not, that's insane! Don't even say that". This thought experiment explores the morally confusing area of communication and all that it entails.
Good communication is one of the most underrated skills a human can have. I believe that almost all problems no matter how big or small can be if not solved at least improved through good communication. However, this is much easier said than done. Communication is extremely difficult especially between people with different viewpoints or even different languages. A miscommunication can lead to problems being exacerbated instead of being solved
ReplyDeleteCommunication plays an essential role in today's society. It is the primary way for information and ideas to be passed on and shared. A simple but great example of the importance of communication can be seen by the native american population. For years they pass on their ways of life by storytelling and thus communicating their true beliefs.
ReplyDeletecommunication is probably the most important thing in the hole universe without it we would not have the scientific advancments we have we would not have a form of gov. in all honesty we would probably still be running around in caves or something like that. with that being said the context of communication is very important especially in this day and age when there are so many ways to communicate and thats why i think cyber bullying is a big "problem" because you can't desinguish the context if the person is joking or its an inside joke.
ReplyDeleteFrom my own experience passing bias on through communication is incredibly easy. For the past month or so i have been coaching youth track for 8-10 year olds. It is startling how easy it is to manipulate them, anything I say they believe. In the future, as a parent or in a position of power, I hope I can do my best to not pass along all of my biases to those I am communication with. It is important to keep one homogenous bias out of a work place because differing viewpoints are what allow for progress to be made.
ReplyDeleteGood communication is the most important thing in any relationship. I think with the advances in technologies these communication skills are slowly fading and with the lack of good communication comes conflict. These communication conflicts are especially brought out through texting and social media because the user doesn't have to own up to their words. As well as with social media slang and the excessive use of profanities it is very easy for other users to misinterpret causing many unnecessary conflicts.
ReplyDeleteLanguage is very important and powerful tool. However, it can sometimes be used in ways that are hurtful, such as when people lie, don't own what they say, or manipulate people. However, these same uses of language can be very beneficial. At times, these "bad uses" of language can be the best option, such as when you are protecting someone by not giving them the entire truth. Overall, any use of language can be positive or negative; it all depends on the context.
ReplyDeleteI very much dislike the negative connotation that comes with the word "indoctrinate", because what people who accuse and denounce indoctrination fail to see is that any sort of education could be called "indoctrination". According to Wikipedia, indoctrination is "the process of inculcating ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or a professional methodology (see doctrine).[1]" The truth is that indoctrination is necessary for people to function in society since society requires that people have knowledge in language, customs, and many social constructs that aren't even explicit. Also, given that words and concepts can only be defined in relation to other words and concepts (the abstraction isn't necessarily grounded in anything, since meaning is human constructed), those entering into society must have an intuitive understanding of language beyond simply processing syntax. For a person to have the same "sense" of a word or concept as every other person requires a great deal of, yes, indoctrination.
ReplyDeleteThis also speaks to the power of language since although none of the concepts we speak of exist in a concrete sense, we are still able to communicate them, and although some amount of nuance or meaning is always lost in communication and even within one's own mind as concepts develop, it is amazing that we are essentially able to take a thought and transfer that thought to another person. My example for this is the word "happiness". When I say this, every single person will have a slightly different image of the word, but there is also a mutual understanding of what I have said. Essentially, everyone is thinking the same thought even though existence itself has no concept of happiness.
Language is a weapon that we all have, and it can be a dangerous one if used correctly. Human beings have an amazing capacity for persuasion, and manipulation, and a big part of those is language. You can't have a stutter, and be a criminal defense lawyer, it just doesn't work. That said, I think that language is one of the most beautiful and valuable things that humans have. When used correctly, language can alleviate misunderstandings, present brilliant new ideas, or be incredibly comforting. Its truly all up to the individual who is wielding the power of language.
ReplyDeleteIt is extremely interesting to me that (as referenced in the RSA video) that the purposeful ambiguity that we find ourselves incorporating in simple daily conversation is meaningful in many respects. Based on the assumptions given about individual and mutual knowledge, innuendo can indeed be beneficial tool if inquiring on a topic without complete certainty of what the other party will have to say on the issue, so concealing of actual intentions is appropriate in a number of situations. The fact that these ways of concealing reality are such a large part of what is socially considered “polite” that people will continue to use these means of keeping the ambiguity. Though at times it may seem that we are over communicating in order to get to the point, there is almost some sort of eloquence seen in everyday language that would be lost without the innuendos concealing the truth. If we were always prehistoric in the way we spoke and lacked in creativity, then the art of communication would be a boring one.
ReplyDeleteThe consequences of communication are incredibly destructive while at the same time they can merit positive results as well. To determine which you will bring about out of your own communication, recognizing the factors that play into determining if those you are communicating with are indoctrinated (in the negative sense of the word) for a negative or untrue cause (as we see with the Nazi indoctrination of the youth and deification of Adolf Hitler) using the phenomenon of authority worship to control a population or group and force your own beliefs on them by means of lying and promiscuity, then the result will be negative. If you go into situations aware of the fact that many will look up to you and will likely be greatly influenced by you, the best you can do is present accurate and unbiased information to indoctrinate the next generation (like Harrison mentions above) in a positive way. We are all dependent on language for the furthering of our knowledge, and should seek out the least filtered form of it we possibly can, so we can make our own personal assumptions outside of the collective ideas.
appropriate communication is essential to participating positively in a society. I think that the saying "actions speak louder than words" is often true and actions are a form of communicating. But i think language and the things you say also are loud in that if you say inappropriate, or hurtful things, the perception of you to other people and your reputation will change.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Carlin once had a bit about the increasing confusion and emotional distance that modern euphemisms created. He spoke of how "shell shock, a visceral and descriptive term for the mental condition many soldiers faced returning from WWI slowly changed over time, to "battle fatigue" to "operational exhaustion" to "post-traumatic stress disorder" which is now the accepted term. He argues that with every additional syllable, we became more removed from the reality of the condition, that the suffering and pain soldiers suffer becomes more sanitized and easier to wave away and ignore. Now, an argument can be made that such language is a response to new knowledge, that language is ever adapting and evolving, that the new terminology is introduced so as to better describe and define the human condition. However, something must be said for the brevity and frankness that language once had, as opposed to the increasing "softness" that Carlin once saw.
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