"Anyone who thinks about this sees that these phrases are gimmicks, designed to demonstrate participation rules and prevent meaningful discussion."
I like how you describe this tendency towards "attractive" phrasings designed to end thought. Because I agree; they have a purpose that is not nefarious. Once you've thought something through and decided on an answer, these cliches save you from relitigating the issue mentally every time you encounter it (for one). But they can be used for manipulation and control as well as they can be used to reduce cognitive load; I guess a fair definition of manipulation is the use of salutary and helpful features of human psychology and communication to work towards your own specific end, rather than explaining inductively and deductively why what you desire should be followed.
I relatively recently read the book "Cultish" by Amanda Montell. She had a rather interesting set of behaviors of "cultish" groups, and one of the characteristics was "thought-ending cliches"; these are phrases intended to cease a conversation or line of thought. Things like "it's all a part of God's plan." It's a cliche that ultimately doesn't mean much, but functions as a reminder of What We Believe; don't think through your current questions or doubts; remember What We Believe. (The book is interesting; I recommend it. She talks about a lot of groups like fitness groups and other "mainstream" contemporary groups that act in many important ways similar to things we traditionally recognize as cults, like Heaven's Gate.)
That's interesting. It makes me think of brands too, which decided that explanations of features and benefits could be replaced by a slogan or even just a word or icon displayed on a garment. Everything in the information world ultimately tends toward shortcuts.
I wonder if the particular talent to end thought with cool-sounding phrases is part of how the leftish has been so successful in implementing changes that most people don't seem to accord with, once they know what the slogan actually *means*. By the time you've realised that 'Trans rights' doesn't mean what a conventional liberal person would assume, gay women are being vilified as bigots for not being attracted to 'lesbians' with dicks. While not nefarious in themselves these thought-enders can be used for questionable aims.
Sure - but let's be reminded that a spoon can also be used for questionable aims. In and of themselves, thought-ending statements are neutral. There's nothing inherently bad in them, and they are in fact a very useful tool to stop us overthinking issues, getting into extensive arguments at the end of which there's been no renegotiation of positions (because that was never the intention behind exchanging words), continuously revisiting old issues with forgone conclusions and, I kept it last because it rhymes and you'll like it, analysis paralysis. Decisions on policies need to be made and it's very rare for a policy to have such clear benefits as to be undeniably superior to its alternatives. Getting into a life long debate about what to implement before implementing only serves the purpose of letting time go by without any action. I'm not saying thought-stopping statements are necessarily positive every time they are uttered - they can indeed support political hooliganism - but they play an important role in keeping us sane and ensuring we do choose the blue pill over the red pill after all, with the limited information we have, and get the heck on with things. At the end of the day most of our decisions are not made after careful consideration of the balance of probability that things will turn out in a certain way. Our gut often tells us what we want to do, and the brain simply tailgates and rationalises the why, picking selectively the evidence in support of a decision it was never tasked with making. When we lived on trees we had no time for debating solutions when it came to running from predators, and not much has changed since.
Now I'm thinking about all the bad things one could do with a spoon and I can't stop.
I wouldn't quibble with anything you say, which is all reasoned and reasonable. I'm just really suspicious, these days, of thought-stopping statements. I don't really care whether it's 'Make America Great Again' or 'Trans rights are human rights', they all beg myriad questions that seem important.
Of course they beg myriad questions - that's how a slogan pulls you into an argument by your shirt, then proceeds to knee you in the bollocks, punches you in the stomach and throws you onto the ground. The moment you utter "but" in response to a slogan you are already on your way to having your... but(t) handed to you. You can't beat the power of a slogan with a reasoned argument. Have you ever seen a debate ending with "...but on second thought, I'm not sure I know what it means to make America great again, Rupert. Thank you for your carefully considered opinion on this topic, I found that enlightening and it is with immense pleasure that I will now spend an inordinate amount of time reconsidering my system of beliefs from the ground up. Who knows what else I've been taking for granted all these years, by golly! [lifts pinky while sipping afternoon tea from elegant china]"?
Kidding aside, the safest strategy I've found to rob slogans of their power is to hear it and walk away. Chances are I've already done the thinking that tells me a few of the ways in which the slogan falls short of the mark, I remind myself of them briefly, then get on with devoting time to things that actually give me joy. Usually that involves making food, meeting a friend, eating food, seeing a landscape, planning to see a landscape, resting, sleeping and other less explicitly mentionable activities. You'll notice thinking didn't make it to the long list... Cause I'm human like that. ;)
I'm finding that being immersed in historical research, finding and following threads, is similarly nourishing. Can't help noticing that rumination - even of an 'intellectual' kind - rarely seems to invoke a feeling of subjective wellbeing. This morning I think I found who one of 3 unnamed (in the original report) victims of a landmine near here was. Aside from the tragedy this represents, tying that thread was a genuinely feel-good moment.
"Anyone who thinks about this sees that these phrases are gimmicks, designed to demonstrate participation rules and prevent meaningful discussion."
I like how you describe this tendency towards "attractive" phrasings designed to end thought. Because I agree; they have a purpose that is not nefarious. Once you've thought something through and decided on an answer, these cliches save you from relitigating the issue mentally every time you encounter it (for one). But they can be used for manipulation and control as well as they can be used to reduce cognitive load; I guess a fair definition of manipulation is the use of salutary and helpful features of human psychology and communication to work towards your own specific end, rather than explaining inductively and deductively why what you desire should be followed.
I relatively recently read the book "Cultish" by Amanda Montell. She had a rather interesting set of behaviors of "cultish" groups, and one of the characteristics was "thought-ending cliches"; these are phrases intended to cease a conversation or line of thought. Things like "it's all a part of God's plan." It's a cliche that ultimately doesn't mean much, but functions as a reminder of What We Believe; don't think through your current questions or doubts; remember What We Believe. (The book is interesting; I recommend it. She talks about a lot of groups like fitness groups and other "mainstream" contemporary groups that act in many important ways similar to things we traditionally recognize as cults, like Heaven's Gate.)
That's interesting. It makes me think of brands too, which decided that explanations of features and benefits could be replaced by a slogan or even just a word or icon displayed on a garment. Everything in the information world ultimately tends toward shortcuts.
I wonder if the particular talent to end thought with cool-sounding phrases is part of how the leftish has been so successful in implementing changes that most people don't seem to accord with, once they know what the slogan actually *means*. By the time you've realised that 'Trans rights' doesn't mean what a conventional liberal person would assume, gay women are being vilified as bigots for not being attracted to 'lesbians' with dicks. While not nefarious in themselves these thought-enders can be used for questionable aims.
Sure - but let's be reminded that a spoon can also be used for questionable aims. In and of themselves, thought-ending statements are neutral. There's nothing inherently bad in them, and they are in fact a very useful tool to stop us overthinking issues, getting into extensive arguments at the end of which there's been no renegotiation of positions (because that was never the intention behind exchanging words), continuously revisiting old issues with forgone conclusions and, I kept it last because it rhymes and you'll like it, analysis paralysis. Decisions on policies need to be made and it's very rare for a policy to have such clear benefits as to be undeniably superior to its alternatives. Getting into a life long debate about what to implement before implementing only serves the purpose of letting time go by without any action. I'm not saying thought-stopping statements are necessarily positive every time they are uttered - they can indeed support political hooliganism - but they play an important role in keeping us sane and ensuring we do choose the blue pill over the red pill after all, with the limited information we have, and get the heck on with things. At the end of the day most of our decisions are not made after careful consideration of the balance of probability that things will turn out in a certain way. Our gut often tells us what we want to do, and the brain simply tailgates and rationalises the why, picking selectively the evidence in support of a decision it was never tasked with making. When we lived on trees we had no time for debating solutions when it came to running from predators, and not much has changed since.
Now I'm thinking about all the bad things one could do with a spoon and I can't stop.
I wouldn't quibble with anything you say, which is all reasoned and reasonable. I'm just really suspicious, these days, of thought-stopping statements. I don't really care whether it's 'Make America Great Again' or 'Trans rights are human rights', they all beg myriad questions that seem important.
But, then again, you're right too.
Of course they beg myriad questions - that's how a slogan pulls you into an argument by your shirt, then proceeds to knee you in the bollocks, punches you in the stomach and throws you onto the ground. The moment you utter "but" in response to a slogan you are already on your way to having your... but(t) handed to you. You can't beat the power of a slogan with a reasoned argument. Have you ever seen a debate ending with "...but on second thought, I'm not sure I know what it means to make America great again, Rupert. Thank you for your carefully considered opinion on this topic, I found that enlightening and it is with immense pleasure that I will now spend an inordinate amount of time reconsidering my system of beliefs from the ground up. Who knows what else I've been taking for granted all these years, by golly! [lifts pinky while sipping afternoon tea from elegant china]"?
Kidding aside, the safest strategy I've found to rob slogans of their power is to hear it and walk away. Chances are I've already done the thinking that tells me a few of the ways in which the slogan falls short of the mark, I remind myself of them briefly, then get on with devoting time to things that actually give me joy. Usually that involves making food, meeting a friend, eating food, seeing a landscape, planning to see a landscape, resting, sleeping and other less explicitly mentionable activities. You'll notice thinking didn't make it to the long list... Cause I'm human like that. ;)
I'm finding that being immersed in historical research, finding and following threads, is similarly nourishing. Can't help noticing that rumination - even of an 'intellectual' kind - rarely seems to invoke a feeling of subjective wellbeing. This morning I think I found who one of 3 unnamed (in the original report) victims of a landmine near here was. Aside from the tragedy this represents, tying that thread was a genuinely feel-good moment.
You should be a writer ...
I'm going to take that as a compliment and go think about my lunch ;)