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The implicit conclusion here is that without language we are all alone, but the unwarranted assumption is that language is the only vehicle for communication.
Then there are some linguists who feel that one of the more important functions of language is to lie.
Yeeeah buddy; and some linguists play fun and games with blow-up dolls. What, you believe what a man says when he has already said that a prime function of language is to lie? And yes, I saw the news article with that silly construction somewhere on the net, but found it beyond amusement. 
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old hand
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old hand
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Any pointers? I'd like to read some of them.
. In the chapter "Word against Object" of his book "After Babel", George Steiner has the key phrase: Language is the main instrument of man's refusal to accept the world as it is , and argues at length for the importance of the counter-factual in Language.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thank you, Weis Bier. I'd've hated to have to have taken Nuncle on a tour of the morass that is my Junk Drawer Memory®.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In the chapter "Word against Object" of his book "After Babel", George Steiner
Thank you very much. I must reread After Babel. It's been simply too many decades.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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member
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The social lie is a critical aspect of society. If you don't think so, try being completely honest with your co-workers. The problem is assuming that communication is based on something infallible--and since it's all based on human constructs, perfection is unrealistic.
tempus edax rerum
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old hand
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old hand
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try being completely honest with your co-workers - no problem, as long as you limit yourself to the sympathetic co-workers :). And sympathy is something that can be expressed without much in the way of words.
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stranger
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stranger
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The meanings of all words are in a continuous state of transition;
words have no ultimate meanings they only serve a function. ~
The social lie is a critical aspect of society. If you don't think so, try being completely honest with your co-workers. The problem is assuming that communication is based on something infallible--and since it's all based on human constructs, perfection is unrealistic. In the chapter "Word against Object" of his book "After Babel", George Steiner has the key phrase: Language is the main instrument of man's refusal to accept the world as it is , and argues at length for the importance of the counter-factual in Language. All, crimethink. Language is innocent, and with an innate capacity for infinite beauty. The beauty of languages is in their forms and meanings, independent of their function, whether grammatical or informational. Language is honest, but its use isn't always honest. Rather than a refusal to accept an imperfect world, language is, besides an artifact of inherent beauty, a resource for making a "more perfect" (mutatis mutandi) world.
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Now really boys, put down your books and think. The advandage of language lies only in the accurate communication of progressive and sequential cause-and-effect events which postively effect the continuance of the breeding group. And watch your semantics; "lies" are not "lies" if used for the purpose of instruction or example, and if - and it is a pretty big "if" - there are no semantical conflicts with objective reality, meaning: the objective reality percieved by our senses which are doubled-checked by the congruence of language. Otherwise you guys rock. 
Last edited by themilum; 06/21/07 03:18 AM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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The advandage of language lies only in the accurate communication of progressive and sequential cause-and-effect events ...
You oughta know about that.
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The advandage of language lies only in the accurate communication of progressive and sequential cause-and-effect events ...
You oughta know about that. Bother to explain yourself, Faldage, otherwise the casual viewer of this board might think that you are being snide simply because you have nothing to add to the subject under discussion.
Last edited by themilum; 06/21/07 12:06 PM.
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