Language Exerts Hidden Power, Like a Moon on the Tides.
“Language exerts hidden power, like a moon on the tides.” (Rita, Mae Brown)
Language can be compared to the air that we breathe in every day in our lives, they both surround us and are important but we are not consciously aware of it at all times. However, language has its rules and it’s intended. Not every way of communication is a language. Language is rule-governed, yet it is still creative and open-ended, in which different people may have different perspectives on one statement. Language utilizes the hidden power to express, convince and influence human beings. Language can be used in different forms and styles, however, we are never fully aware of the importance of the hidden power that language can express.
Language can be revealed in many different ways, which can cause different perspectives from people. In Text A, “Tversky and Kahneman (1981) demonstrated systematic reversals of preference when the same problem is presented in different ways”. It shows the effectiveness of euphemism and vagueness. The people did not appreciate the straight forward statement, it may be because of the harshness and the reality that shocks the reader. The difference in the preference of the programs shows how human beings are more likely to prefer the positive facts than the negatives; Program A had seventy-two percent preferences. This can show how language has the power to convey something disastrous, however, in a euphemism way, in which the reader will more likely to accept. However, the complicated statements, those with fractions instead of exact numbers, seem to favour the reader. This may be because the reader needs more time to process the factual information in their brains, which may have the same effect as ‘Lost in Translation’; the more your brain processes, the more details and facts are faded away. In addition, the fractions used can make the situation of the Asian disease problem seem less serious, because fractions appear to be less in number than the
Language can be compared to the air that we breathe in every day in our lives, they both surround us and are important but we are not consciously aware of it at all times. However, language has its rules and it’s intended. Not every way of communication is a language. Language is rule-governed, yet it is still creative and open-ended, in which different people may have different perspectives on one statement. Language utilizes the hidden power to express, convince and influence human beings. Language can be used in different forms and styles, however, we are never fully aware of the importance of the hidden power that language can express.
Language can be revealed in many different ways, which can cause different perspectives from people. In Text A, “Tversky and Kahneman (1981) demonstrated systematic reversals of preference when the same problem is presented in different ways”. It shows the effectiveness of euphemism and vagueness. The people did not appreciate the straight forward statement, it may be because of the harshness and the reality that shocks the reader. The difference in the preference of the programs shows how human beings are more likely to prefer the positive facts than the negatives; Program A had seventy-two percent preferences. This can show how language has the power to convey something disastrous, however, in a euphemism way, in which the reader will more likely to accept. However, the complicated statements, those with fractions instead of exact numbers, seem to favour the reader. This may be because the reader needs more time to process the factual information in their brains, which may have the same effect as ‘Lost in Translation’; the more your brain processes, the more details and facts are faded away. In addition, the fractions used can make the situation of the Asian disease problem seem less serious, because fractions appear to be less in number than the