"Why Squares Are Blue" - How Language Impacts Society

What did you say? And what did you mean by it?

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Daktoria
Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:14 pm

"Why Squares Are Blue" - How Language Impacts Society

Post by Daktoria »

When you hear, "Why squares are blue," does that suggest all squares are blue, or does that just suggest when squares are blue that there's an explanation for it?

Different people interpret this phrase differently, but what happens when different interpreters coexist among each other, and they're discussing ideas simultaneously? What happens when these very interpretations take place during the process of judging what's correct, and what happens when people's values on ethical discussion are being used at the same time that these interpretations happen?

To give another example, take, "Why people are happy." Obviously, we can agree that everyone isn't happy, but still, some people are happy, and there are discussions about why people are happy when they are.

However, let's take another example such as, "Why people are happy here." We can probably agree that in some places, people indeed are happy for the most part if not entirely. After all, there's a difference between specific locations and the entire world. Therefore, it could make sense to claim that phrase refers to everyone being happy instead of just explaining why people are happy when they happen to be.

Now, let's say that in this place, those who are happy assume that the phrase refers to everyone being happy rather than having a situational understanding of the phrase. In turn, they jump to conclusions in assuming there's something wrong with those who aren't happy because the conditions of the society at hand enable everyone who's "normal" to be happy.

Obviously, this is going to create a problem, but can this problem be dealt with? How is this problem dealt with? For example, how do you compel selfish people who are happy and coexist among other happy people that others aren't happy because they have an internal problem, but because the social conditions which enable selfish people to be happy don't enable everyone to be happy?
JSS
Posts: 232
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2016 3:42 am

Re: "Why Squares Are Blue" - How Language Impacts Society

Post by JSS »

Daktoria wrote:Why squares are blue
Daktoria wrote:Why people are happy
Daktoria wrote:Why people are happy here
Those are excellent comparative examples of implied speech confusion.
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