Re: do we need to speak clearly?


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Dear Dan,

You know anotherbasic notion in Communications Theory and Hallidayan
Linguistics, Speech Act do dahs and so on is that "meaning is
negotiated".

I think I am writing clearly at the moment.

If I say something like "he is a bastard", well I'm going to have to
clarify that. You might not realize that what I am *intending* to send
is a message that could be rephrased "his parents were not married at
the time of his birth". Or maybe, if I simply meant "he is a bastard" I
will need to clarify - "he is only interested in himself" or maybe just
that "he killed Kenny".

People rarely *understand* each other in a first encounter.

Take the gift. There is an old satire (that may be "relevant"):

Other kings give a horse for a fine poem
He gives a cow [sic]

There is a formula at work in the gift, in the exchange. This *code* is
itself a process of negoatiation that began before we were born and will
contunue long after we are buried.

And everything I have said here is from the most conventional and
Limited Inc. discourses I know, those most interested in the
determination of meaning..

So even from the most clarifying position, clarity looks most uncertain,
even from the most deterministic position, meaning seems quite
underdetermined.

And the longer the duration of this negotiation the further it gets from
the event, the longer I have been dead, the less likely it is that I
will be understood. And I was dead for a long time before I was born.

LOL

- Chris

One day, years ago, you wrote me this that I, the amnesiac, know by
heart, or almost: "it is curious to see that generally i do not answer
your letters, nor you mine

or are we delirious, each alone, for ourselves? Are we waiting for an
answer or something else? No, since at bottom we are asking for nothing,
no, we are asking no question, The prayer
. "Okay, I'll call you
right away. You know everything, before me.

you will always precede me.
- Derrida

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<HTML>
Dear Dan,

<P>You know anotherbasic notion in Communications Theory and Hallidayan
Linguistics, Speech Act do dahs and so on is that "meaning is negotiated".

<P>I think I am writing clearly at the moment.

<P>If I say something like "he is a bastard", well I'm going to have to
clarify that. You might not realize that what I am *intending* to send
is a message that could be rephrased "his parents were not married at the
time of his birth". Or maybe, if I simply meant "he is a bastard"&nbsp;
I will need to clarify - "he is only interested in himself" or maybe just
that "he killed Kenny".

<P>People rarely *understand* each other in a first encounter.

<P>Take the gift. There is an old satire (that may be "relevant"):

<P>Other kings give a horse for a fine poem
<BR>He gives a cow [sic]

<P>There is a formula at work in the gift, in the exchange. This *code*
is itself a process of negoatiation that began before we were born and
will contunue long after we are buried.

<P>And everything I have said here is from the most conventional and Limited
Inc. discourses I know, those most interested in the <I>determination</I>
of meaning..

<P>So even from the most clarifying position, clarity looks most uncertain,
even from the most deterministic position, meaning seems quite underdetermined.

<P>And the longer the duration of this negotiation the further it gets
from the event, the longer I have been dead, the less likely it is that
I will be understood. And I was dead for a long time before I was born.

<P>LOL

<P>- Chris

<P>One day, years ago, you wrote me this that I, the amnesiac, know by
heart, or almost: "it is curious to see that generally i do not answer
your letters, nor you mine
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
or are we delirious, each alone, for ourselves? Are we waiting for an answer
or something else? No, since at bottom we are asking for nothing, no, we
are asking no question, The prayer
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
. "Okay, I'll call you right away. You know everything, before me.
<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
you will always precede me.
<BR>- Derrida</HTML>

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