Understanding People, Especially When It's Hard | A.L. Becker's Philology

Understanding each other doesn't come naturally, but it's essential for productive personal and political interactions. In this video, I share some key ideas from the scholar A.L. Becker that can help us to be more careful in our communication with those we have trouble understanding--and point out how it can translate to our own writing.

0:00 Introduction
2:41 The Roots of Misunderstanding
5:51 Language vs. Languaging
14:18 A Reader's Responsibility
22:06 A Writer's Responsibility
24:37 Conclusion

[KyleMaxwell]

As an autistic adult, I watched this with some trepidation, and partway through I realized how this relates to my disability. These things are exactly what autistic folks can never take for granted, because so often we know we are missing context and so are allistic folks in conversation with us. And as a spouse in an “international marriage”, yes, that context becomes even more important to bring to the surface.

[ElliotBrownJingles]

"Democracy begins in conversation"! Great presentation. Well worth watching twice (with my notebook this time).

[Beckelby]

I love the idea that we're all just bundles of energy that take on the hue of those around us. (Speaking of hue, I really like the pink gel light.) That each of us are an agglomeration of personalities of everyone we've ever known, who in turn are created by everyone they've ever known. That we despise loneliness, and simultaneously crave it, because we aren't singular entities like our meat sacks would lead us to believe; we are inexplicably intertwined. We fight for balance between individuality and being only part of the whole.

[turtlellama]

In situations like that class, see it as an opportunity. An opportunity to learn to think and talk faster or an opportunity to be rude and get away with it. Embrace the situation.

[kurtarbuckle]

It seems to me this is all well and good, and that it makes most sense when confronted with ideas new to us. But sometimes after listening and genuine consideration, the other person is just wrong. Good faith seems to also be needed from all involved, and that is not always the case. We truly listen, but not always can we discover what is true and what is a con, a hidden agenda, or emotional baggage.

[amaechi]

You’re really good at what you do man. Keep on making awesome content :)

[walkermott]

The quote at 17:17 remind me of something I heard many years back. "Words mean what they meant when they were written". I can not remember quite where I heard it but it is always in my mind when reading anything that isn't super modern.

[cyancat]

Can you do on an Australian thought and native and asian Australian focus base

[abotic]

As always, an interesting and thoughtful video. Part of me has an incredibly long, somewhat waffley response to this. Instead I shall say, thank you for introducing me to Becker and his philology, I shall have to put him on my reading list, and are you familiar with Jurgen Habermas's concept of Communicative Action? A lot of what you said, particularly from the last half/third of the video really put me in mind of it. He has an incredibly long book called The Theory of Communicative Action, but there are numerous, reasonably short but good enough explanations of the general concept available about (online or published). You may find it interesting.

[jr.jackrabbit]

this video is fantastic. as someone who is interested in learning new languages, i always want from it more a means of understanding the personality of the message, rather than just plainly knowing the words and grammar. the thought of treating that as the actual goal of the learning, instead of just as something that you could be theoretically capable of, is very exciting to me.

[slyracoon]

This is a very important topic. As someone who thinks of themselves as an intellectual, I have a hard time understanding people, mainly because I am trying to rationalize what they say into various meanings. Maybe I should switch it up and ask what they think about what they say and how I interpreted it instead. It would be good for both parties. Keep up the good work!

By the way, I joined the club! I'm excited to continue learning in the Discord!