Justin Shenk

Looking for information on E-prime (software), I came across E-prime (linguistics).

Have you heard of E-prime? E-prime is a modified form of English which encourages active voice. This reminds me of what one person I know had talked about, not using predicated something or other as a method for better communication. I think it is (note: I had first typed “It is” and correct myself) interesting how it forces the observer to acknowledge his/her subjectivity, as demonstrated below.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime

Korzybski (1879–1950) had determined that two forms of the verb ‘to be’—the ‘is’ of identity and the ‘is’ of predication—had structural problems. For example, the sentence “The coat is red” has no observer, the sentence “We see the coat as red” (where “we” indicates observers) appears more specific in context as regards light waves and colour as determined by modern science, that is, colour results from a reaction in the human brain.

Other notes: Albert Ellis’ book A New Guide to Rational Living discusses applying the avoiding reificative or stative language in daily life and leadership. Alfred North Whitehead said “There are no whole truths, all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.” One article states that for leaders, “we would do better to state our opinions as opinions”. This seems to me to tie in with a discussion on the subjectivity of science and personal reality. I am excited to find practical applications of semantic and linguistic conscientiousness.