November 29, 2012

• An Exchange of Words: Labels

  I REALLY HATE TRYING TO LEAVE A READABLE LENGTHY COMMENT ON XANGA, trying to get the spacing formatted right is truly messed, I am going to have to learn HTML just for that I am sure.

   

  @bookographyreviews I was trying to leave this for you in the comments, but it didn't really work.

   

  START OF EXCHANGE

  HIM

  As a rule people are NEVER the labels they assign to themselves. It is either - A) "This is how I wish to be perceived and since I secretly suspect I'm not, I feel compelled to announce that I am." B) "I want to be labeled as someone who labels himself these things.”

  ME
  I take issue with that statement, and the use of the word never. It is so definitive, as to innately be inaccurate for its very definiteness. It is true that people do label themselves, and it is true that most people aspire to embody the labels they project onto and subject themselves to. Some fall short, but to clearly state that ALL fall short, is an inaccuracy. At the very least, the struggle to embody these labels is something to be appreciated. Labeling one's self is a grey matter, it is neither good nor bad, for it can be used to both elevate and depreciate equally. I personally try to lead a life without a focus on labels, and even I find labels inescapable, because at the very least, someone is always labeling you; and the very nature of language and communication lends itself toward labels as a means to relate to others in any meaningful capacity toward being understood. Almost every word, and surely every noun, is a container for the image poured into it, is a label we use to relate to others.

  You may claim exceptions to the rule apply in those special cases, but I don't find those cases all that special, perhaps it is just the quality of people I surround myself with, but I see a wide sample of humans, some display one or both of the two options you left available, some take a different approach.

  Just saying.

  HIM
  I take issue with your statements, but I also take vicodin with bourbon. I'm pretty sure the two are unrelated, though. Most of your critique stems from the misperception that I am making value judgements, rather than an objective observation. People simply don't feel the need to announce what they take for granted about themselves. You don't dispute that people are frequently not their labels. As a matter of fact you confirm it. Your disagreement is just one of degree focusing on the word "never." Your other linguistic points regarding nouns, containers and the symbolic nature of language are true enough, but not particularly pertinent to a discussion of human motivation. That's a small matter, since such nitpicking is best left to the college-going types. The point is that when you label another person, or play into their self-labeling, you're relating to the label, not the person. That's not exactly "meaningful."

  I make no value judgements here. Human nature is what it is, so that would be like making value judgements about gravity. Fact is, we create ourselves with our actions, not our words - and we neither reshape nor rectify the former with the latter. "If I say this about myself, then others will say it, and then it becomes true," is a means of dodging responsibility for the agency one has forfeited though inaction, or not particularly noble actions. I've nothing against self-labeling - being aware of the motivations behind it is an excellent means to manipulate people. Affirm what they say, and you can get everything from your way in a workplace disagreement to sex. Negate it and you throw someone into an obsessive bender of attempts to prove it. I like people who work hard on their containers and fight to stay in them.

  ME
  *Frowns after the third time typing a near complete statement out and having the computer turn off randomly*

  Most of my critique does not stem from the faulty perception that you are making a “value judgment” Most of what I said was me going of on a tangent totally unrelated to the point I was trying to make, but related to the subject in some way. I do that sometimes, *Shrugs*

  My point directed at you, was focused entirely on the usage of the word never, and the inaccuracy of its usage. The rest of that passage was for my own benefit, and the benefit of others if they decided to read it and take anything away from my own observations.

  To reiterate, I do not disagree with most of your observations, I disagree that your observations are an accurate portrayal of reality, and only because you used the word Never, instead of the more accurate statement “are usually not”

  I also disagree that my “other linguistic points regarding nouns, containers and the symbolic nature of language are true enough, but not particularly pertinent to a discussion of human motivation.” It is very pertinent to the discussion of human motivation, because while the “Fact is, we create ourselves with our actions, not our words” we do define ourselves, describe ourselves, relate to others, and connect to others with our words. When we try to define ourselves, for introspective personal benefit, or for external communicative benefits; the primary medium of choice is words, and both of those, Internal and External motivations, are human motivational factors that contribute to the desire to accept or seek out Labels, because words are Labels.

  I agree however that, over attachment toward the Labels we choose to accept in our lives is a form of self induced slavery, because it promotes emotive reactionary behavior as you indicated, which can be used to manipulate or control the individual if understood correctly. That is true of any emotive reactionary behavior, any reactionary behavior in general really. A choice based reality is difficult for most to envision or accept, it conflicts with the experience they are currently identifying with, the idea that they could be experiencing reality differently if they chose to, is a foreign concept for those to whom it pertains.

  END OF EXCHANGE

  • 5:38 pm
  • 4 Comments