Book News: Author Of Controversial 'Seduction Guide' Apologizes : The Two-Way : NPR:
'via Blog this'
Words, writing, language. Such tricky, malleable components of the human toolbox. For one thing, there's interpretation. Bunch of young American African males hanging out around a basketball court, calling each other "niggah" this and that. Through interpretation, the lightning-quick filtering of stimuli based on past experience, the 60-something "white" woman, the 11-year-old Puerto Rican boy and the 36-year-old bi-racial Harvard grad within earshot will each hear something different and respond in three different ways to what they hear. And if you ask one of the young men what the word and it's usage means to them, you'll hear yet another opinion.
Beyond interpretation, there's the inherent duplicity of the human mind. Almost all of us would claim the best intentions underlying whatever we say or write. We are often blind to our own deepest motivations. How often someone has said to me, "I don't mean to rain on your parade" just before they say something that...well, rains on my parade. How often someone says "I don't want to interrupt you" just before they interrupt you.
This is not a problem with a solution. It's just the way it is. It helps to think before you speak (or write...or listen). It helps to ask questions, requesting clarification, before jumping to a conclusion. It helps to cut each other some slack.
Oh, and yeah, it helps to hang loose and keep your sense of humor.
'via Blog this'
Words, writing, language. Such tricky, malleable components of the human toolbox. For one thing, there's interpretation. Bunch of young American African males hanging out around a basketball court, calling each other "niggah" this and that. Through interpretation, the lightning-quick filtering of stimuli based on past experience, the 60-something "white" woman, the 11-year-old Puerto Rican boy and the 36-year-old bi-racial Harvard grad within earshot will each hear something different and respond in three different ways to what they hear. And if you ask one of the young men what the word and it's usage means to them, you'll hear yet another opinion.
Beyond interpretation, there's the inherent duplicity of the human mind. Almost all of us would claim the best intentions underlying whatever we say or write. We are often blind to our own deepest motivations. How often someone has said to me, "I don't mean to rain on your parade" just before they say something that...well, rains on my parade. How often someone says "I don't want to interrupt you" just before they interrupt you.
This is not a problem with a solution. It's just the way it is. It helps to think before you speak (or write...or listen). It helps to ask questions, requesting clarification, before jumping to a conclusion. It helps to cut each other some slack.
Oh, and yeah, it helps to hang loose and keep your sense of humor.
