[OSList] : Speech acts

Linda Stevenson stevenson8899 at msn.com
Sat Oct 26 07:02:52 PDT 2013


Hi, Dan,
 
"Be prepared to be surprised" along with the OST "principles" is descriptive of what participants might notice in Open Space.  You could think of it as a "heads up" or a reminder that nobody knows specifically what is going to go up on the wall (nor what specific outcomes and next steps will emerge).  General outcomes, yes, like emergent visions, creative collaboration, genuine community, serious learning and play, etc. but not specific ones, hence the element of surprise.
 
In twenty years of facilitating Open Space I have never seen any one interpret it as a directive, just a reminder which not only applies to OST but also to life itself.
 
All the best,
Linda
 
 

 
Date: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 09:17:38 -0400
From: dan at newtechusa.net
To: oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Subject: [OSList] : Speech acts


  
    
  
  
    When responding to Jenifer's thoughts earlier, I realized:

    

    The slogan "Be Prepared to Be Surprised" is a most interesting one
    in OST. 

    

    It is actually an illocutionary speech act.... of type "Directive".

    

    So, located here in OST, baked into it, we have a specific slogan
    that is attempting to cause the hearer to take a
    particular action, e.g. a request, commands and
    advice. A directive!

    

    I wonder if the undeniably directive structure of "Be Prepared to Be
    Surprised" really aligned with the intention/spirit/philosophy of
    OST.

    

    Dan

    

    

    Background links:

    

    What is a speech act? 

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_acts

    
    A speech act in linguistics and the philosophy of language is an
    utterance that has performative function in language and
    communication.

    

    What is an illocutionary act?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illocutionary_act

    
    Illocutionary act is a term in linguistics introduced by the philosopher
    John L. Austin in his
    investigation of the various aspects of speech acts. 

    

    What is a Directive illocutionary act?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illocutionary_act#Classes_of_illocutionary_acts

    
    directives = speech acts that are to cause the hearer to
      take a particular action, e.g. requests, commands and advice

    

    More than you asked for:

    What is a Commissive speech act?

    
    commissives = speech acts that commit a speaker to some
    future action, e.g. promises and oaths

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

      

    

    

    

    

    

    

    On 10/24/13 1:29 PM, Jenifer Toksvig
      wrote:

    
    
      Re: [OSList] The OST Game
      Dan wrote:
          >> Consider the man who loves a certain woman, and waits
          for the current trend of her interest in him to change. He is
          goal seeking without controlling. Likewise, trend-following
          market traders do not attempt to create, control or make
          trends. They simply identify & ride them, while seeking
          wealth. <<

          

          Waiting and seeking are still forms of controlling. Your
          loving man has chosen to wait for his goal rather than (to
          coin a phrase) being prepared to be surprised by another
          woman. He may not be trying to control her, but he’s still
          trying to control the situation in a way that he thinks will
          allow him to achieve his goal.

          

          Those who seek wealth do likewise: they don’t randomly ride
          the trends, they identify them and make choices about how to
          ride them, in order to obtain wealth. That is control.

          

          I don’t think it’s possible to be goal-oriented and try to
          exert some kind of control over the process, unless your goal
          is… to have no goal. Actually, even being prepared to be
          surprised is a goal. A sort of wonderfully ridiculous one.

          

          Jen x

          

        Jenifer Toksvig

              www.acompletelossforwords.com

              

              The Copenhagen Interpretation

              www.thecopenhageninterpretation.co.uk

            

        
      

      
      

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