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Mon 22 Dec, 2008 03:29 pm
Lately I was wondering the philosophy behind Starting a sentence with "You know, I really think", "So Listen", "Here's the thing", "ok...", etc......... theres plenty more but i want to stay focused.
To me it seems that these introductions, if you'll call them that, represent Importance to the individual. Which raises the questions of debate all together.
1. Is self importance, pertaining to knowledge and perception, something to be frowned upon? If so, how often and when?
2. Is this one of the common barriers that hinder compromise? Again, when should this be addressed in the time line of a debate or argument?
I think these light mechanisms of language and speech, show a breakdown, eventually, in individuals conflict with each other. These questions are a meek addressing, but as best as i could show them right now.
@Joe,
What makes you think these things are a matter of self-importance to the individual?
When I say "I think" or "It seems to me" it is a reflection of my relativist philosophy.
@Mr Fight the Power,
I think the quotes you mentioned, does depend on the structure of the debate itself. i agree its not all the time, pertaining to importance. tone applies also. i think we are talking about different tones too.
but heres a question. When someone says "So listen" before there statement, what is the purpose. Its like an announcement of something to come. An attention grabber. meaning you want someones focus, on what your saying.
See where I'm going with this?
@Joe,
Most careful philosophical writers will often indicate, I would think, the tentativeness of their position by qualifying what they write by "it seems" or "perhaps" or "another way of looking at the problem" and so on. These same people will often use "some" or "many" instead of the emphatic "all" when writing.
"Hey listen up" "Here's the thing" are the result of informal writing, and not
necessarily (from my experience in forums) designed to draw attention to what follows in an egotistical way that suggests an unwillingness to listen to others or perhaps to effect a compromise as the dialogue progresses.
By the same token, a post written in a more formal, "philosophical" style may not indicate a dogmatic stance on the side of the author.
@Joe,
Serveral spiritual schools of thought teach the importance of not begining a sentence with things like "I think it's...." The idea being that one should remain humble. It's also supposedly related to truth....that is, truth is truth regardless of one's personal viewpoint.
Anyway, that's what I think.....Ha!
@chad3006,
Methinks too that this kind of starters is often just a structuring element in the discourse. When I say "Hey Joe" a computer could understand that as "10.Open text" or something. Same with "goodbye", often just meant as "x0. Close text". Now humans are not computers and it's a bad thing to copy our reasoning or our discourse on them, so we better hint at least casually towards the "I" behind our utterances. The denial of the "I" in our discourse being always artificial and rather expressing pride than humility.
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