Brilliant. Thank you for this. I will anxiously await future installments.
One thing that has occurred to me recently is the power contain in the language we use to communicate. It’s easy to spot the angry, the ignorant etc. it’s much harder to discern the nuances of language. It can be equally subversive or inspiring. In my current focus on mental health I’ve discovered that the stigma that characterizes someone who suffers from a mental illness or traumatic injury is derived by a healthcare industry that profits off of keeping people sick. This has led me to realize that if we are to get a handle on our current pandemic related mental health crisis the associated stigma will have to be eradicated. It seems obvious that a place to begin is in what language we use to communicate these issues. In essence: change the language - change the narrative.
Hi Chris, thanks for joining The Owner's Guide to the Future. Your point about the power of language is important.
Especially today, since we are training machine intelligence algorithms on vast amounts of the language that people use on the web (more or less accurately, and sometimes, in a violent way.)
It reminds me of that old phrase, "language is a virus." In today's hypernetworked society, language travels incredibly fast. Weaponized words can reach a huge number of people fast. In this way, networked words can transmit mental illness.
In future articles, I'll take a closer look at the impact of language as a virus in the network.
Brilliant. Thank you for this. I will anxiously await future installments.
One thing that has occurred to me recently is the power contain in the language we use to communicate. It’s easy to spot the angry, the ignorant etc. it’s much harder to discern the nuances of language. It can be equally subversive or inspiring. In my current focus on mental health I’ve discovered that the stigma that characterizes someone who suffers from a mental illness or traumatic injury is derived by a healthcare industry that profits off of keeping people sick. This has led me to realize that if we are to get a handle on our current pandemic related mental health crisis the associated stigma will have to be eradicated. It seems obvious that a place to begin is in what language we use to communicate these issues. In essence: change the language - change the narrative.
I’d be very curious to get your opinion?
Your “mental wellness advocate” friend.
CB
Hi Chris, thanks for joining The Owner's Guide to the Future. Your point about the power of language is important.
Especially today, since we are training machine intelligence algorithms on vast amounts of the language that people use on the web (more or less accurately, and sometimes, in a violent way.)
It reminds me of that old phrase, "language is a virus." In today's hypernetworked society, language travels incredibly fast. Weaponized words can reach a huge number of people fast. In this way, networked words can transmit mental illness.
In future articles, I'll take a closer look at the impact of language as a virus in the network.