The excerpt from Chapter 10 titled Interpreting the Environment from Stuart Chases The Tyranny of Words is a useful tool that should improve communication. Many of what is presented have been elaborated previously in the book. Let us list categorically those deductions upon which there appears to be agreement by two or more observers, and no announced disagreement. 1. That words are not things. (Identification of words with things, however, is widespread, and leads to untold misunderstanding and confusion.) 2. That words meaning nothing in themselves; they are as much symbols as x or y. 3. That meaning in words arises from context of situation. 4. That abstract words and terms are especially liable to spurious identification. The higher the abstraction, the greater the danger. 5. That things have meaning to us only as they have been experienced before. 6. That no two events are exactly similar. 7. That finding relations and orders between things gives more dependable meanings than trying to deal in absolute substances and properties. Few absolute properties have been authenticated in the world outside. 8. That mathematics is a useful language to improve knowledge and communication. 9. That the human brain is a remarkable instrument and probably a satisfactory agent for clear communication. 10. That to improve communication new words are not needed, but a better use of the words we have. (Structural improvements in ordinary language, however, should be made.) 11. That the scientific method and especially the operational approach are applicable to the study and improvement of communication. (No other approach has presented credentials meriting consideration.) 12. That the formulation of concepts upon which sane men can agree, on a given date, is a prime goal of communication. (This method is already widespread in the physical sciences and is badly needed in social affairs.) 13. That academic philosophy and formal logic have hampered rather than advanced knowledge, and should be abandoned. 14. That simile, metaphor, poetry, are legitimate and useful methods of communication, provided speaker and hearer are conscious that they are being employed. 15. That the test of valid meaning is: first, survival of the individual and the species; second, enjoyment of living during the period of survival.”
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 00:05:34 +0000
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