[OSList] : Speech acts

Michael M Pannwitz mmpannwitz at gmail.com
Sat Oct 26 11:45:00 PDT 2013


This puzzled me and still puzzles me: The notion that we open space. I 
always stumble over it when I hear someone saying that. Why is that done?
In my frame, I just call it: I make an introduction.
And sometimes I say: The sponsor opens the space (does a 3-Minute 
whatever) and then introduces me to the crowd, best by saying: and here 
is Michael.
I did this once when I was sponsor and introduced Harrison as 
facilitator by saying "And here is Harrison" and sat down. It dawned on 
him in about 3 seconds that he was on.
The role of the facilitator, another grand question for Utrecht.
And all of you who find it too far away: This is actually the reason why 
we do the European OSonOS in the years when WOSonOS is simply too far 
away for some... and for some years now for me, too.
So next year, when it is in Belgrade, there will be no "European" 
OSonOS... hold it, be prepared to be surprised.

Love that invitation that Dan extended... Drummondville seems a real 
possibility.

cheers
mmp

On 26.10.2013 20:26, Harrison Owen wrote:
> Dan you are totally correct. The sentence structure is a mess. I knew
> that when I said it, and said it intentionally... to make a point:
> “Opening” an OST is a serious joke. It is serious because useful good
> stuff happens, and it is a joke because we don’t really open anything.
> It already is (open). What we do do is playfully remind people of what
> they already know, but may have forgotten. Emphasis: _play_fully. Law,
> Principles, and Final Admonition, all best done with a smile J
>
> ho
>
> Harrison Owen
>
> 7808 River Falls Dr.
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> *From:*oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
> [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf Of *Daniel Mezick
> *Sent:* Saturday, October 26, 2013 2:07 PM
> *To:* oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] : Speech acts
>
> Howdy Harrison,
> This background story on the "wonderful internal contradiction" does
> explain the curiously dissonant sentence structure of "Be prepared to be
> surprised."
>
> "Be prepared to be surprised" is a directive, a structure that is
> dissonant and might even be in conflict with the concepts of
> self-management, self-governance, self-organization et al.
>
> I have been studying, arranging and facilitating OST meetings for over 5
> years, and I just noticed this curious fact for the 1st time.
>
> Probably something to do with the books I'm reading lately.
>
> And this guy:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Austin
> Austin pointed out that we use language to /do/ things as well as to
> /assert/ things, and that the utterance of a statement like "I promise
> to do so-and-so" is best understood as /doing/ something — /making a
> promise/ — rather than making an assertion about anything. Hence the
> name of one of his best-known works: "How to do Things with Words".
>
> Kind Regards,
> Dan
>
> On 10/26/13 11:38 AM, Michael M Pannwitz wrote:
>
>     you couldnt, because you are already dead
>     mmp
>
>     On 26.10.2013 17:35, Harrison Owen wrote:
>
>     Actually Dan – it is and always has been a serious joke, with (I think)
>     a wonderful internal contradiction. If you were really prepared to be
>     surprised, you couldn’t be surprised... or could you J
>
>     ho
>
>     Harrison Owen
>
>     7808 River Falls Dr.
>
>     Potomac, MD 20854
>
>     USA
>
>     189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)
>
>     Camden, Maine 04843
>
>     Phone 301-365-2093
>
>     (summer)  207-763-3261
>
>     www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com>
>     <www.openspaceworld.com%20 <http://www.openspaceworld.com%20>>
>
>     www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com> <www.ho-image.com%20
>     <http://www.ho-image.com%20>> (Personal Website)
>
>     To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
>     OSLIST Go
>     to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
>
>     *From:*oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
>     [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf Of
>     *Daniel Mezick
>     *Sent:* Saturday, October 26, 2013 9:18 AM
>     *To:* oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
>     <mailto: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
>     <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics>
>     <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics> and the philosophy of
>     language <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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>
>     <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics> introduced by the
>     philosopher
>     John L. Austin <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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>
>     <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:
>
>          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
>     <http://www.acompletelossforwords.com>
>     <http://www.acompletelossforwords.com>
>
>          *The Copenhagen Interpretation
>          *www.thecopenhageninterpretation.co.uk
>     <http://www.thecopenhageninterpretation.co.uk>
>     <http://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
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> 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.
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Michael M Pannwitz
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