To Be or Not… Why Even Worry About It?
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.
Yesterday, I had a talk with lunar_warden and he told me about his current study of a book I have mentioned in the past called "The Four Agreements" which lady_savant introduced to me (I love this book by the way). He mentioned that he felt he would likely struggle with the first agreement the most which reads "Be impeccable with your word." This actually consists of more than what you may think. Some people would interpret it as always speaking the truth. And while I certainly agree with that aspect, I see it as far more than just that. In short, it means "Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love." ;The first thing that came to my mind? E-Prime. Over the last year or more, I have put quite a bit of study into it. I know that lady_savant and lunar_warden have a rough familiarity with it, however I felt I would like to share what E-Prime consists of and why I feel incorporating it into everyday communication could radically reduce misunderstanding among English speaking people (specifically American English). Also it could assist one who choses to put the four agreements into practice since the impeccability of ones word also involves the clarity exhibited. You can speak with sincerity, integrity and honesty… but if not careful, your language could cause confusion or the illusion of dishonesty or simple ignorance even when not present.
First, for those of you unaware, in summary E-Prime removes all forms of the verb "to be" also called the "is of identity". These include the words:
"be, am, are, is, was, were, been, being, maybe, albeit" (as well as colloquial ain't and 'm, 're, 's). We use many if not all of these words so often in our everyday speech, eliminating even only a couple seem like an unlikely task. With practice though, it really does get easier and you find you almost get a sort of weird enjoyment out of it. As an experiment, with the exception of the title of this entry, the obligatory Thelemic greeting/ending, any quotes I include, or where I intend to use words excluded from E-Prime for explanatory purposes, this entire entry exhibits pure E-Prime. Look it over carefully if you like. I never accidentally fall into the "is of identity". I intend to have all future entries written in pure E-Prime. Texting has worked out well so far. Speaking it has proven the most difficult, yet I shall conquer. :-)
If you wish to check this, you can use this site to go through either this entry or anything you type and see if it comes out as pure E-Prime.
To help illustrate the concepts, I shall give some examples:
"Jim is ridiculous", "I am hungry", "You are so sensitive". Now most people would look at these examples and question what issues these statements could possible have? They seem clear enough, right? Keep in mind we have become accustomed to modern day American English. As a result these examples may not seem all that extraordinary. Even while promoting E-Prime I can say that by all appearances they seem rather ordinary. However think if you had to learn English as a second language or perhaps you get visited by aliens from another world… really think about those statements. Could you misunderstand their meaning? When I speak about Jim, do I mean to say that "Jim" and "ridiculous" mean the same thing? Of course not! But could one walk away with those perceptions? Absolutely. When talking about myself, I can confidently say that "hungry" only describes an occasional feeling if I do not eat enough. And while you may exhibit sensitivity, would you say you fit that description all the time? Don't you ever feel angry or like you really just don't care about things or people? I know I feel that way a lot. Then again, I could have meant sensitivity to light or loud noise. The use of E-Prime could effectively eliminate these issues as it forces the user to elucidate what they want to say.
Mind you, E-Prime certainly can prove difficult for the beginner. For another example, lunar_warden and I discussed this subject and he asked, "how would you say 'is it raining' in E-Prime?" I admit it took me a few moments to come up with a solution since my use of E has gotten a bit rusty. I responded:
"The down-side to e-prime consists of the fact that making a short question or statement appears rather difficult. If I had to ask about the weather... can you tell me if the weather looks rainy? Does it appear cloudy or would you say it feels humid outside?
Yes it took a while, but practice makes speech faster and easier. Plus I really had to think about what I would say."
That last comment to him however really struck me though. I genuinely did have to take time with what I would say. If only more people would take time before speaking. Think about the benefits and the positive changes we would encounter just by that alone! Granted… as one gets accustomed to this form of writing/speech it would not take much time at all. However by the time you could get that proficient, most if not all of your communication would come across more clear and few people would misunderstand you (notice I did not say "no one"… some people just like to act difficult or obtuse).
To conclude, I would like to include another take on E-Prime that I find quite profound which comes from an article called "Speaking E-Prime":
"In his book, Language, Thought and Reality, Benjamin Lee Whorf gives numerous examples of languages and cultures that support his "principle of linguistic relativity." This principle states that the structure of the language you use influences the way you perceive "reality," as well as how you behave with respect to that perceived reality. Although one could describe E-Prime simply as English without any use of the verb "to be," such a definition misses the profound changes in personal orientation resulting from such a change.
In essence, E-Prime consists of a more descriptive and extensionally oriented derivative of English, that automatically tends to bring the user back to the level of first person experience. For example, if you saw a man, reeking of whisky, stagger down the street and then collapse, you might think (in ordinary English) "He is drunk." In E-Prime one would think instead "He acts drunk," or "He looks drunk," both of which statements obviously coming closer to an accurate description of the actual experience, and involving fewer covert assumptions than the English original. After all, one might have encountered an actor (practicing the part of a drunken man), a man who had spilled alcohol on himself undergoing a seizure of some kind, etc., etc. The E-Prime statement still leaves these possibilities open, whereas the "is" statement does not. Although E-Prime usually reduces hidden assumptions, it does not exclude them (for example, you may have seen a woman, or a robot, or an alien, etc. that looked like a man and acted drunk). E-Prime fosters a worldview in which the user perceives situations as changeable rather than static, and where verbal formulations derived from experience indicate possibilities rather than certainties. Subjectively, I have found my creativity greatly enhanced, as many problems that "are unsolvable" in ordinary English only "seem unsolvable" in E-Prime! This shift in attitude can make a great difference."
Love is the law, Love under Will.
I.N.R.I.
Yesterday, I had a talk with lunar_warden and he told me about his current study of a book I have mentioned in the past called "The Four Agreements" which lady_savant introduced to me (I love this book by the way). He mentioned that he felt he would likely struggle with the first agreement the most which reads "Be impeccable with your word." This actually consists of more than what you may think. Some people would interpret it as always speaking the truth. And while I certainly agree with that aspect, I see it as far more than just that. In short, it means "Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love." ;The first thing that came to my mind? E-Prime. Over the last year or more, I have put quite a bit of study into it. I know that lady_savant and lunar_warden have a rough familiarity with it, however I felt I would like to share what E-Prime consists of and why I feel incorporating it into everyday communication could radically reduce misunderstanding among English speaking people (specifically American English). Also it could assist one who choses to put the four agreements into practice since the impeccability of ones word also involves the clarity exhibited. You can speak with sincerity, integrity and honesty… but if not careful, your language could cause confusion or the illusion of dishonesty or simple ignorance even when not present.
First, for those of you unaware, in summary E-Prime removes all forms of the verb "to be" also called the "is of identity". These include the words:
"be, am, are, is, was, were, been, being, maybe, albeit" (as well as colloquial ain't and 'm, 're, 's). We use many if not all of these words so often in our everyday speech, eliminating even only a couple seem like an unlikely task. With practice though, it really does get easier and you find you almost get a sort of weird enjoyment out of it. As an experiment, with the exception of the title of this entry, the obligatory Thelemic greeting/ending, any quotes I include, or where I intend to use words excluded from E-Prime for explanatory purposes, this entire entry exhibits pure E-Prime. Look it over carefully if you like. I never accidentally fall into the "is of identity". I intend to have all future entries written in pure E-Prime. Texting has worked out well so far. Speaking it has proven the most difficult, yet I shall conquer. :-)
If you wish to check this, you can use this site to go through either this entry or anything you type and see if it comes out as pure E-Prime.
To help illustrate the concepts, I shall give some examples:
"Jim is ridiculous", "I am hungry", "You are so sensitive". Now most people would look at these examples and question what issues these statements could possible have? They seem clear enough, right? Keep in mind we have become accustomed to modern day American English. As a result these examples may not seem all that extraordinary. Even while promoting E-Prime I can say that by all appearances they seem rather ordinary. However think if you had to learn English as a second language or perhaps you get visited by aliens from another world… really think about those statements. Could you misunderstand their meaning? When I speak about Jim, do I mean to say that "Jim" and "ridiculous" mean the same thing? Of course not! But could one walk away with those perceptions? Absolutely. When talking about myself, I can confidently say that "hungry" only describes an occasional feeling if I do not eat enough. And while you may exhibit sensitivity, would you say you fit that description all the time? Don't you ever feel angry or like you really just don't care about things or people? I know I feel that way a lot. Then again, I could have meant sensitivity to light or loud noise. The use of E-Prime could effectively eliminate these issues as it forces the user to elucidate what they want to say.
Mind you, E-Prime certainly can prove difficult for the beginner. For another example, lunar_warden and I discussed this subject and he asked, "how would you say 'is it raining' in E-Prime?" I admit it took me a few moments to come up with a solution since my use of E has gotten a bit rusty. I responded:
"The down-side to e-prime consists of the fact that making a short question or statement appears rather difficult. If I had to ask about the weather... can you tell me if the weather looks rainy? Does it appear cloudy or would you say it feels humid outside?
Yes it took a while, but practice makes speech faster and easier. Plus I really had to think about what I would say."
That last comment to him however really struck me though. I genuinely did have to take time with what I would say. If only more people would take time before speaking. Think about the benefits and the positive changes we would encounter just by that alone! Granted… as one gets accustomed to this form of writing/speech it would not take much time at all. However by the time you could get that proficient, most if not all of your communication would come across more clear and few people would misunderstand you (notice I did not say "no one"… some people just like to act difficult or obtuse).
To conclude, I would like to include another take on E-Prime that I find quite profound which comes from an article called "Speaking E-Prime":
"In his book, Language, Thought and Reality, Benjamin Lee Whorf gives numerous examples of languages and cultures that support his "principle of linguistic relativity." This principle states that the structure of the language you use influences the way you perceive "reality," as well as how you behave with respect to that perceived reality. Although one could describe E-Prime simply as English without any use of the verb "to be," such a definition misses the profound changes in personal orientation resulting from such a change.
In essence, E-Prime consists of a more descriptive and extensionally oriented derivative of English, that automatically tends to bring the user back to the level of first person experience. For example, if you saw a man, reeking of whisky, stagger down the street and then collapse, you might think (in ordinary English) "He is drunk." In E-Prime one would think instead "He acts drunk," or "He looks drunk," both of which statements obviously coming closer to an accurate description of the actual experience, and involving fewer covert assumptions than the English original. After all, one might have encountered an actor (practicing the part of a drunken man), a man who had spilled alcohol on himself undergoing a seizure of some kind, etc., etc. The E-Prime statement still leaves these possibilities open, whereas the "is" statement does not. Although E-Prime usually reduces hidden assumptions, it does not exclude them (for example, you may have seen a woman, or a robot, or an alien, etc. that looked like a man and acted drunk). E-Prime fosters a worldview in which the user perceives situations as changeable rather than static, and where verbal formulations derived from experience indicate possibilities rather than certainties. Subjectively, I have found my creativity greatly enhanced, as many problems that "are unsolvable" in ordinary English only "seem unsolvable" in E-Prime! This shift in attitude can make a great difference."
Love is the law, Love under Will.
I.N.R.I.