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> While these maxims were originally meant to describe how people intuitively communicate, they can be used to actively guide the way you communicate in various
by blintz 6y ago
> While these maxims were originally meant to describe how people intuitively communicate, they can be used to actively guide the way you communicate in various situations.
This isn't something I'd endorse doing often. Grice was making a descriptive statement about the linguistic pragmatics of human conversation; he was absolutely not saying that this is how people 'should' speak. Reversing the principles like this turns them into listicle fodder instead of the rather insightful framework for understanding pragmatics that they are.
A parallel exists in linguistic syntax. The goal of linguistic syntax is to describe which sentences are recognized by speakers of a language as grammatical, rather than prescribe some notion of 'correct' grammar. If you take syntactic descriptions and interpret them as rules, you are profoundly missing the point - see "Don't end your sentences with a preposition!" nonsense.
There's more reading on Grice's maxims in their original, descriptive linguistics/social science context is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_principle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_principle
- lupire 6y ago> Don't end your sentences with a preposition!" That's based on a misunderstanding of syntax, not an excessive attention to it.
- anoncake 6y agoIf "don't end your sentences with a preposition" was an actual grammar rule, no one would ever talk about it because every native speaker would intuitively follow it anyway.
- neolog 6y ago> This isn't something I'd endorse doing often. Why not? They seem like helpful principles.
- istinetz 6y agoI think particularly for autistic people that struggle to pick up the implicit rules of the game, they can be useful.
- neolog 6y agoAre there situations where it would be harmful to follow these rules?
- sbierwagen 6y agoSure. If you are talking to a woman in a romantic context, the purpose of the conversation is not to convey the most information in the fewest words possible.
- shard 6y agoThese rules can be a hinderance during social conversations, where the goal is often to show that you understand the beliefs and practices of the in-group and to demonstrate your superiority through a command of humor or charisma, where the implied and non-verbal communication is possibly more important than the actual spoken words.
- philwelch 6y ago> This isn't something I'd endorse doing often. Grice was making a descriptive statement about the linguistic pragmatics of human conversation; he was absolutely not saying that this is how people 'should' speak. Advice is directional, not absolute. If someone struggles with correctly identifying and adopting the shared interpersonal protocols most people use in society, a documented, descriptive guide to those protocols can be used as a guide. Even if Grice’s project was to document and model the set of rules that “everyone” implicitly knows and follows, if you’re not a part of that “everyone” and you struggle to reach understanding when communicating with others, maybe Grice’s maxims can explain what you missed.