[OSList] : Speech acts

Sat Oct 26 10:55:08 PDT 2013

Michael said:

"Well, Dan, if you feel commanded and directed, imperatively, by "Be 
prepared to be surprised"...how do you feel being confronted by the Law?

I say:

I don't actually feel commanded/directed. I'm just noticing something 
about the actual syntax structure of the slogan.

"Be prepared to be surprised" is in fact structured in English as: an 
illocutionary speech act of type 'directive'.

And I think that's really, really interesting. Do you also think so?

On 10/26/13 9:54 AM, Michael M Pannwitz wrote:
> Well, Dan, if you feel commanded and directed, imperatively, by "Be 
> prepared to be surprised" (In German: "Augen Auf! Mit Überraschungen 
> ist zu rechnen!", even more gruesome), how do you feel being 
> confronted by the Law?
> And by a facilitator raising his/her voice by saying, as the Law (in 
> German: Das Gesetz) is introduced: "You know about Laws, they have to 
> be obeyed...!!!", followed by the translation of the Law, theatrical 
> pause and then, facilitator stops in his/her tracks (here I am talking 
> of classical facilitators like me that walk the circle): "You honor a 
> group with your absence when you neither learn nor contribute 
> something. If you learn something, stay. If you contribute something, 
> stay. If neither is happening you leave the group by whatever means 
> are available to you and look for a more productive place for you to 
> be in!"
> Adding, "and this Law is in force right now!", pause.....
> Somehow, I havent gotten the curve yet, when I introduce the 
> admonition (yes, this is the name for it, in German: Ermahnung) and 
> the Law... invariably participants smile or grin at me!!
> No respect for authority, let alone age or beauty, and this just at 
> the very beginning of an open space event.
>
> Have a great Sunday!!!
> cheers
> mmp
>
>
> On 26.10.2013 15:17, Daniel Mezick wrote:
>> 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
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics> and the philosophy of
>> language <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics> introduced by the philosopher
>> John L. Austin <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Austin> in his
>> investigation of the various aspects of speech acts
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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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>>
>> -- 
>>
>> Daniel Mezick, President
>>
>> New Technology Solutions Inc.
>>
>> (203) 915 7248 (cell)
>>
>> Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
>> <http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter 
>> <http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
>>
>> Examine my new book:The Culture Game
>> <http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the
>> Agile Manager.
>>
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>

-- 

Daniel Mezick, President

New Technology Solutions Inc.

(203) 915 7248 (cell)

Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog 
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter <http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.

Examine my new book:The Culture Game 
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the 
Agile Manager.

Explore Agile Team Training 
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and Coaching. 
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>

Explore the Agile Boston <http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/>Community.

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