Some linguists use the term "politeness" pattern to describe this kind of communication, because they are ways to gently and gracefully say something or make a request without overtly asking. Someone who uses them doesn't have to fully commit themselves to their request. And if the other person doesn't respond, that is not an overt refusal of the unspoken request.
Although implications can cause trouble because they are often so ambiguous and unconscious, the same subtlety can also be used in very positive ways. Implication was used extensively and deliberately by Milton Erickson to help people make changes, and his work provides a useful arena to understand more clearly exactly how verbal implication works, so that we can use it deliberately and wisely. Here are some paraphrased examples of Erickson's therapeutic statements (with the implication in parentheses).
"You don't want to discuss your problems in that chair. You certainly don't want to discuss them standing up. But if you move your chair to the other side of the room, that would give you a different view of the situation, wouldn't it? (From this different position you will want to discuss your problems.)
"I certainly don't expect that you'll stop wetting the bed this week, or next week, or even this month." (I certainly expect that you will stop sometime soon.)
"Your conscious mind will probably be very confused about what I'm saying." (Your unconscious mind will understand completely.)
Examining these examples, we can begin to generalize about the structure of verbal implication.
1. There is a presumption of a categorical division of the world into two (or occasionally three or more) scopes or categories, usually either/or, here/there, now/later, conscious/unconscious, etc. This division is often created by negation.
2. This categorical division can exist in space, time, or events (matter and/or process).
3. A statement that is made about one half of the either/or categorical division implies that the opposite is true of the other half. When you use negation in a statement, that is a further invitation to think of the world as divided into two opposites, and to think of the opposite of whatever is negated.
If you look back at the examples above, you will find these three elements in each of them. Since implication is often confused with presupposition (which Erickson also used extensively) it is useful to contrast the two.
Presuppositions:
1. Can be identified unambiguously by examining a verbal communication in written form. The simplest way to identify presuppositions is to negate the entire communication, and find out what is still true.
For example, take the sentence, "I'm glad that you have the ability to change quickly and easily." Negated, this becomes, "I'm not glad that you have the ability to change quickly and easily." Only gladness is negated, the rest of the sentence, "you have the ability to change quickly and easily" remains true, so that is what is presupposed. The speaker creates the presupposition; the listener does not.
2. Are usually passively accepted unconsciously.
- 3 -
|
