5 ms·

And I remember reading how you used to be able to beat your wife with a stick no bigger than your thumb. Doesn't mean anything about today.

mbrock 9y ago
Out of curiosity, what do you imagine that my comment meant to say about today?
- panzagl 9y ago
  Just the usual 'people used to do it, so it's ok'. Maybe I read too much into it.
  - mbrock 9y ago
    Yeah, I wasn't trying to say that, which is why I didn't say it! I do think a truth-based approach to drugs should be a part of general education, and that the current older generation has failed embarrassingly and awfully in its drug policies.
_jal 9y ago
...Because consuming plant matter is just like domestic violence?
- cjjuice 9y ago
  unrelated side note... I think this is a great example of how much we use loaded language in rhetoric. you turned "cannabis" to "plant matter" and "beat your wife with a stick no bigger than your thumb" to "domestic violence". It's also amazing that this rhetorical technique is only useful to a modern audience that has been conditioned to associate certain feelings to the words. Not disagreeing with your point, just thought it was interesting.
  - _jal 9y ago
    Pretty sure manipulation with loaded language is not unique to modern discourse. There seems to be an assumption that folks who predate modern tech were somehow unsophisticated or innocent. Not so - if anyone finds modern political antics entertaining, I highly recommend them Roman history. While spotting rhetorical techniques, I'd throw out that my synonym-choice is more something that I've been trying to train myself out of - I tend to unconsciously take a step 'up' in generality when rephrasing elements of others' arguments, and it isn't a great habit. Sometimes it can be useful, but oftentimes muddies the waters. Been trying to retrain myself, obviously with mixed results.
    - cjjuice 9y ago
      Yeah, maybe I phrased my comment wrong. By "modern" I mean "contemporary" meaning the loaded words are only effective on people contemporary to the speaker who grasp the hidden context behind the words.

mbrock 9y ago

Out of curiosity, what do you imagine that my comment meant to say about today?

panzagl 9y ago
Just the usual 'people used to do it, so it's ok'. Maybe I read too much into it.
- mbrock 9y ago
  Yeah, I wasn't trying to say that, which is why I didn't say it! I do think a truth-based approach to drugs should be a part of general education, and that the current older generation has failed embarrassingly and awfully in its drug policies.

_jal 9y ago

...Because consuming plant matter is just like domestic violence?

cjjuice 9y ago
unrelated side note... I think this is a great example of how much we use loaded language in rhetoric. you turned "cannabis" to "plant matter" and "beat your wife with a stick no bigger than your thumb" to "domestic violence". It's also amazing that this rhetorical technique is only useful to a modern audience that has been conditioned to associate certain feelings to the words. Not disagreeing with your point, just thought it was interesting.
- _jal 9y ago
  Pretty sure manipulation with loaded language is not unique to modern discourse. There seems to be an assumption that folks who predate modern tech were somehow unsophisticated or innocent. Not so - if anyone finds modern political antics entertaining, I highly recommend them Roman history. While spotting rhetorical techniques, I'd throw out that my synonym-choice is more something that I've been trying to train myself out of - I tend to unconsciously take a step 'up' in generality when rephrasing elements of others' arguments, and it isn't a great habit. Sometimes it can be useful, but oftentimes muddies the waters. Been trying to retrain myself, obviously with mixed results.
  - cjjuice 9y ago
    Yeah, maybe I phrased my comment wrong. By "modern" I mean "contemporary" meaning the loaded words are only effective on people contemporary to the speaker who grasp the hidden context behind the words.