Steve,
You write:
"The language we use does not 'map' the world as it 'really' is: it
creates that world."
I have considered that proposition, but have concluded that it is wrong.
Language does not create reality, rather it gives us a way to identify
what is real, and how to interact with that reality.
The ultimate power of language is to describe concepts, which give meaning
and purpose to things that already exist. Our perceptual ability is not
necessarily linked to our linguistic ability. That means we can recognize
_something_ exists, but we cannot manipulate, explore, integrate, and act
on that thing until we can define it and describe it through language. To
that extent, learning is the process of defining things that exist. This
is not limited to physical objects, but also abstract objects such as
justice, integrity, and so forth.
The clarity of our language strongly influences how well we grasp reality
and are able to effectively interact with the world. The more clear our
language becomes, the better we are able to link concepts together, thus
expanding our knowledge and our ability to achieve the results we most
desire.
"Your post and position suggests that a person sleeping on the streets
"really is" one thing or another, and some of us use the right
term--"bum," for example--while others evade "reality" and refuse to be
truthful and call that person "homeless.""
A rock is a rock, and always will be a rock. A bum is a bum, but he/she
can change who they are if they want to. I'd imagine that a bums plight
exists more in the language that they use than it does in the reality of
the world in which they live.
For instances, my daughter's favorite words are "I can't." Whenever we sit
down as a family to watch the Discovery channel she asks question after
question, without waiting to see if the narrator will answer her
questions. I started telling her, "Think about it. Draw your own
conclusions." Her reply, "I can't." And she was dead right. . .except I
started proving to her that she could. . .now she asks very few questions.
She tells me all the time how much she thinks, what she thinks about, and
how much fun it is to think and learn. She had a reality that she was
basically an incapable person. I demonstrated otherwise, and gave her a
language tha helped her see a different reality. Her previous reality was
false; her knew reality is true. The difference is in her use of language.
"Ben, which term describes the "reality" of Joan of Arc? "Saint"?
"Crazy"?"
I guess that depends on how you interepret her life. . .wigged out lunatic
works for me <g>.
"A person who is non-productive and who is not competent but remains
employed is a member of a "learning organization" which wants to help him
learn rather than fire him."
This presupposes the notion that business is a charitable endeavor. A
business _may_ be charitable, in this way, but I don't think it _has_ to
be. The bottom line is if you hire too many non-productive and incompetent
people for too long you'll go under.
. .that doesn't seem like such a good idea to me. I mean what would you
say to other people, "Yeah, I built a learning organization. . .we learned
how to go out of business!"? The life of a person, and the life of a
business, can only be sustained by productive work. And productive work
requires competency. And so without competency, there wouldn't be
productive work, and without productive work the business would die. .
.and if a person refused to engage in productive work why should I be
responsible for saving them from the consequence of their own choice?
"I agree completely that the language we use carries with it a theory and
practice of morality. I don't agree that there is a reality that tells us
that it is right to throw a debtor in prison, or lend him money and feed
him."
And I don't think there is a reality that says I should give to people
something they haven't earned, nor should I loan money to people who can't
pay me back. . .
-- Benjamin Compton DWS -- "The GroupWise Integration Experts" (617) 267-0044 ext. 16 E-Mail: bcompton@emailsolutions.com http://www.emailsolutions.comLearning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>