Cog Scientist/Linquist on Trump Tweets: "He is NOT stupid"
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Johnny D
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Once again I found myself listening to KPFA this morning (Trump is turning me into an extremist liberal) and caught this interesting interview with George Lakoff, retired "Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley."
He make very interesting arguments about the "Nation as Family" metaphor for how conservatives and progressives feel about the use of government power and lawmaking.
Then, he proposes how Trumps tweets follow a specific strategy:
1. Create Preemptive Framing; be first to create news and the media will scramble to be the first to Break the News.
2. Deflection (Kill the Messenger/attack the media)
3. Trial Balloon (see how public will react to crazy ideas, like using Nukes)
4. I have to leave....
Here's a link
https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=252074
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Red Dog
I was wondering about a
I was wondering about a linguistic analysis of the inauguration adress so his blog is more than interesting. Thanks for posting!
https://georgelakoff.com/blog
Another analysis i found: http://www.expertsystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/20170120_Trump_in...
No not stupid. But is he intelligent and competent? Or just greedy and his seemingly not stupid strategies are due to greed? He might have some intelligent tweet writers though.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Johnny D
I meant to post that he
I meant to post that he starts talking at about 43 minutes into the kpfa link above. And his points about Trump's tweets start at about 48 minutes. He finishes by talking about Kelly Conway's use of grammar structure to "hold the floor" of a conversation by talking never ending sentences, not allowing the other person to chime in.
Not necessarily a novel idea, but he seems to explain this well.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: That’s Nancy with the laughin’ face
Trump/Bannon supporters
Trump/Bannon supporters (including the GOP in Congress) who are allowing this regime to destroy our democracy are stupid, really really stupid. or perhaps just really evil. Either scenario is bad news.
https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/trial-balloon-for-a-coup-e024990891d5#...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Johnny D
^ From Nancy's link above:
^ From Nancy's link above:
Combining all of these facts, we have a fairly clear picture in play.
1. Trump was, indeed, perfectly honest during the campaign; he intends to do everything he said, and more. This should not be reassuring to you.
2. The regime’s main organizational goal right now is to transfer all effective power to a tight inner circle, eliminating any possible checks from either the Federal bureaucracy, Congress, or the Courts. Departments are being reorganized or purged to effect this.
3. The inner circle is actively probing the means by which they can seize unchallenged power; yesterday’s moves should be read as the first part of that.
4. The aims of crushing various groups — Muslims, Latinos, the black and trans communities, academics, the press — are very much primary aims of the regime, and are likely to be acted on with much greater speed than was earlier suspected. The secondary aim of personal enrichment is also very much in play, and clever people will find ways to play these two goals off each other.
Sound serious to any of you out there?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Red Dog
I just read this piece and i
I just read this piece and i came to the realization that the stupid- intelligent continuum does not help with T.
https://georgelakoff.com/2016/07/23/understanding-trump-2/#more-5082
This is about programming and metaprogramming brains with family metaphors learned very early in childhood. Some people (the "stupid/evil)" just learned to respect their father in a certain way. Really eye opening stuff for me. This is not about rationality. Lakoff recommends this:
1) Instead, go positive. Give a positive truthful framing to undermine claims to the contrary. Use the facts to support positively-framed truth. Use repetition.
2) Second, start with values, not policies and facts and numbers. Say what you believe, but haven’t been saying. For example, progressive thought is built on empathy ...
Third, keep out of nasty exchanges and attacks. Keep out of shouting matches. One can speak powerfully without shouting. Obama sets the pace: Civility, values, positivity, good humor, and real empathy are powerful. Calmness and empathy in the face of fury are powerful.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Back to Back
Lakoff has been pushing his
Lakoff has been pushing his theory for years now. The Democrats actually brought him into campaigns in 2004 to work on their messaging... didn't work out so hot. He's coming back now in the flood of liberals trying to "explain" Trump -- Michael Moore is another (who had heard from him since the Bush era?). Lakoff's analysis of the nation as a family has some validity, to be sure, but the primary divide in the country isn't between a strong father ideal and a nurturing mother archetype. Plenty of Democrats grew up with strict parents, and plenty of Republicans don't use corporal punishment with their kids.
The divide in the country is about whether you want the government structured to benefit mostly or only white people or not. Conservatives generally do, progressives generally don't. We don't need cognitive science to figure it out.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: I rang a silent bell
100% Gaslighting - https:/
People who gaslight typically use the following techniques:
1. They tell blatant lies.
You know it's an outright lie. Yet they are telling you this lie with a straight face. Why are they so blatant? Because they're setting up a precedent. Once they tell you a huge lie, you're not sure if anything they say is true. Keeping you unsteady and off-kilter is the goal.
2. They deny they ever said something, even though you have proof.
You know they said they would do something; you know you heard it. But they out and out deny it. It makes you start questioning your reality—maybe they never said that thing. And the more they do this, the more you question your reality and start accepting theirs.
3. They use what is near and dear to you as ammunition.
They know how important your kids are to you, and they know how important your identity is to you. So those may be one of the first things they attack. If you have kids, they tell you that you should not have had those children. They will tell you'd be a worthy person if only you didn't have a long list of negative traits. They attack the foundation of your being.
4. They wear you down over time.
This is one of the insidious things about gaslighting—it is done gradually, over time. A lie here, a lie there, a snide comment every so often...and then it starts ramping up. Even the brightest, most self-aware people can be sucked into gaslighting—it is that effective. It's the "frog in the frying pan" analogy: The heat is turned up slowly, so the frog never realizes what's happening to it.
5. Their actions do not match their words.
When dealing with a person or entity that gaslights, look at what they are doing rather than what they are saying. What they are saying means nothing; it is just talk. What they are doing is the issue.
6. They throw in positive reinforcement to confuse you.
This person or entity that is cutting you down, telling you that you don't have value, is now praising you for something you did. This adds an additional sense of uneasiness. You think, "Well maybe they aren't so bad." Yes, they are. This is a calculated attempt to keep you off-kilter—and again, to question your reality. Also look at what you were praised for; it is probably something that served the gaslighter.
7. They know confusion weakens people.
Gaslighters know that people like having a sense of stability and normalcy. Their goal is to uproot this and make you constantly question everything. And humans' natural tendency is to look to the person or entity that will help you feel more stable—and that happens to be the gaslighter.
8. They project.
They are a drug user or a cheater, yet they are constantly accusing you of that. This is done so often that you start trying to defend yourself, and are distracted from the gaslighter's own behavior.
9. They try to align people against you.
Gaslighters are masters at manipulating and finding the people they know will stand by them no matter what—and they use these people against you. They will make comments such as, "This person knows that you're not right," or "This person knows you're useless too." Keep in mind it does not mean that these people actually said these things. A gaslighter is a constant liar. When the gaslighter uses this tactic it makes you feel like you don't know who to trust or turn to—and that leads you right back to the gaslighter. And that's exactly what they want: Isolation gives them more control.
10. They tell you or others that you are crazy.
This is one of the most effective tools of the gaslighter, because it's dismissive. The gaslighter knows if they question your sanity, people will not believe you when you tell them the gaslighter is abusive or out-of-control. It's a master technique.
11. They tell you everyone else is a liar.
By telling you that everyone else (your family, the media) is a liar, it again makes you question your reality. You've never known someone with the audacity to do this, so they must be telling the truth, right? No. It's a manipulation technique. It makes people turn to the gaslighter for the "correct" information—which isn't correct information at all.