Saying the opposite of what you say

[drdoug]

I've mentioned before that I have a fascination for performative utterances: They're that particular sort of thing you say that do what they say they do because you said them. They're not just descriptions of how things are, they change how things are because they are said. So, for instance, saying "You are under arrest" makes you under arrest

Comments

[simont]

And a Minister who says they won't resign is actually saying that they might - as in J. K. Galbraith's observation that "anyone who says four times that he won't resign, will". Other recent classics include "this institution is fundamentally sound financially".

These examples, of course, all fall into the wider pattern of the Yes, Minister dictum "never believe anything until it's been officially denied."

I don't know that they're exactly anti-performative, though; they seem more like anti-informative to me, in that the statement is an attempt not to change the state of the world but merely to cause the listener to believe a particular thing, and inadvertently causes them to believe the opposite.

For a true anti-performative utterance, you'd surely have to find some circumstance in which saying (for example) "You're under arrest" does not merely fail to place you under arrest, but it specifically makes you not under arrest in some way. (Perhaps cancelling your previous state of being under arrest, or perhaps merely by protecting

[drdoug]

I don't know that they're exactly anti-performative, though; they seem more like anti-informative to me, in that the statement is an attempt not to change the state of the world but merely to cause the listener to believe a particular thing, and inadvertently causes them to believe the opposite.

Aha, yes! I think you've put your finger on it. They aren't anti-performative at all. Maybe the broader class would be a statement having the opposite effect to the one intended. Statements with paradoxical effects, or backfiring statements, perhaps.

I'm sorry if anyone was offended

*laughs* Yes. I think that illustrates it nicely. It's a bit like a performative statement but has the opposite effect.

I've realised that the Streisand effect is pretty similar, although that covers actions taken as much as statements made. (And I'm simultaneously amused and sympathetic that the Wikipedia page for that has the photo of Barbra Streisand's house.)

[drdoug]

I forgot to mention the Prime Ministerial expression of full confidence in a Minister, which very clearly signals somewhat less than full confidence; further, it seems obviously intended to shore up their position, but in many circumstances can serve to undermine it - at minimum by giving it airtime for another set of news cycles. I used to call this force Major after the PM who probably made the most public expressions of confidence in their Ministers.

Also related: Don't bother me, I'm asleep. We have no rules. This page left intentionally blank. Steal this book. Please do not throw stones at this sign. All Cretans are liars. Words cannot convey my feelings.

[simont]

Ha, I like 'force Major' :-)

Some of those examples made me think that surely I'd heard of this concept under another name, and sure enough, a bit of googling found me a collection of "self-defeating sentences", including some of your examples here. I think from that post I particularly liked "I am not contradicting you!"

[thekumquat]

My office building had notorious problems with the lifts. After yet another overhaul, there were new signs placed in them, telling you how to press the alarm button in case of emergency, but if your call wasn't connected in 20 seconds or no-one answered, to use your mobile to call 07xx xxxxxx. Then to completely fail to reassure you, it went on to say "Do not panic. There is sufficient air available

[drdoug]

The "sufficient air" thing had me laughing out loud. My goodness, I would never have thought to worry about the air supply in a lift but a sign like that would make me worry that there was in fact some way in which the supply was limited!

Another old consultant letter staple I recall is the standard "Thank you for referring ...". Legend said that if the letter starts "You referred ..." the consultant was furious about it.

I very much get the impression that things have changed over the years, and there is less throwing around of random compliments in such correspondence.

[haggis]

I think there is a related class of adverts which devalue the product they are advertising. My favourite example is adverts on buses, promoting the idea of bus advertising. If bus advertising was as successful as claimed, would they have space to advertise it?

[simont]

And I feel as if phrases like "The War to End War" fall somewhere near this same notion.

[cartesiandaemon]

The war to end all wars, later redubbed, "world war #1" :(

[drdoug]

Yes - you can imagine that if they're pricing advertising at maximum yield there'll always be the odd void here and there, so sticking in an advert for the advertising in to the gaps is an easy and smart option. But not when it's more than a tiny percentage of the slots.

[artremis]

There's a definite trend that the more detailed a denial is the less convincing it is.

And the magic of exact words - "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" leaves open the possibility of them having had illicit sex with other women (and/or men) as well as the much more tricksy recieving oral sex doesn't count as "sex" which it turned out to mean ...

[bethanthepurple]

I'm happy there are other school options than the crappy school.

[drdoug]

So am I. I forgot to mention that this was a school where a colleague of mine took her kid out and home-educated them, after an irretrievable home-school relationship breakdown regarding ongoing bullying problems. I only have my colleague's side of the story, and not in full detail, but apparently the school took the view that there were no bullying problems there, because they had an effective bullying policy. (!)

So the school were starting with a big hill to climb to convince me that sending my kids there would be a good idea ... and they turned up with a digger.

I am very happy indeed that the other options are great (in the short term) and good or very good (for later, depending on where we can get a place). It was worth a look to be sure, and I am now very sure!

[thekumquat]

Ah, the ultimate anti-performative sentence: "we dont have bullying in this school" means invariably "we ignore the bullting there undoubtedly is".

Id hoped such answers had died out after our three school tours all replied "obviously we can never guarantee there is no bullying, but what we do whenever it sprouts up is..." with a tone of this being an expected question. It was made more convincing at A's school by the office manager showing us round (after A unexpectedly got a place, so hadnt seen before) then asking a teacher who'd wandered in, "Er, Ms X, what else do we do when bullying crops up?" and Ms X saying some stuff that implied she would be on it, hard, and as repeated as necessary because she'd been there.