In which we discuss Precise Speech.
Recorded June 04, 2024.
Transcript:
Jump to end
so your speech what your speech is or
what your word is to be impeccable with
it or to be precise in it you’d have to
identify who you are first and that’s a
challenge that most people don’t
take are you familiar with the common
topics common topics no I don’t know
Common Topics by name yeah the the
common topics this is um something
well classical education I guess it’s
it’s a way to formulate what you’re
going to talk about I see them oh you
searched it up definition comparison
circumstance relationship and Authority
yeah this they the claim is that this is
a complete way to think about any
subject you pick a subject and then you
can think about it completely using
these five topics that are common to
everything
okay yeah and it makes sense you want to
define something first so definition
comparison is seeing what it’s like in
the world and what it’s not like and um
to what degree is it like something or
not like something okay and then
circumstance would be where it appears
in life um yes um in in what is the past
the past facts what causes it the
relationship is more the cause and the
effect relationship is where it’s
connected to okay yeah circumstances is
um what is what is its past facts it’s
future facts what’s possible what’s
impossible what has happened with it
okay or yeah relationship is um the
cause and effect the
antecedent
consequences contraries and
contradictions these are some notes that
I took when I was thinking about common
topics before and then Authority what
would that be that would be like the
testimony um testimonials statistics the
the things that proofs yes proofs um
laws research things like that so let’s
say we uh go through these common topics
with precise
speech and then it being two words there
are two things to Define right precise
precision and also speech so where do
you want to start what do you start with
well let’s start with speech start with
the base speech speech is the noun of
the thing and precise is the adjective
the noun or verb whatever it is so
before you modify it let’s find out what
we’re modifying what is speech well it’s
it’s what comes out of your mouth which
is uh a reflection of what is in your
brain what you’re thinking about in the
moment
or well ever I mean or continuous it’s
it’s a reflection of what’s in your
brain but what’s in your heart and in
your arms and in your body your whole
self it’s a reflection of you right um
your speech uh when I was thinking about
this topic there’s you know Miguel
ruiz’s First Agreement in his book is be
impeccable with your word would you say
the word is the same or related to
speech so he’s saying word yeah he
defines word in the first chapter of his
book as well let me see if I can find it
because word word is who you are the
word was flesh and dwelt Among Us in the
beginning was the word and the words
with God and the Word was God so the
word is all all being everything that’s
there so if you identify impeccability
in your in your word it’s it’s who you
are still he’s talking about has to be
talking about the whole person yeah okay
so it was in the second chapter but I
mean he defines word in in the second
chapter which is the on The First
Agreement be impeccable with your word
the word is not just a sound or a
written symbol the word is a force it is
is the power you have to express and
communicate to think and thereby to
create the events in your life right
it’s still an action he’s still
identifying it as an action to create to
to manifest your
intentions what you dream what you feel
and what you really are will all be
manifested through the word right and I
think that makes sense in regard to the
word as a creating being as well you
know the word being God the creation is
something we do all the time with
everything we do as well Jordan Peterson
was describing that as is the art
typical story that’s repeated again and
again and again in each of Our Lives
everything we create every word that we
reissue is a creation from us so it’s a
new beginning the word is a new
beginning yeah it’s the new beginning
that comes from you it’s built from
everything you had in your past and and
still rolls on to that but it’s what you
formed up right now and expressed in the
world for your intentions for your
expectations okay so is that the same as
Jordan Peterson’s speech like not non
speech spe like you know what he’s
saying be precise in your speech yeah
precise in your speech I think it’s the
same thing it’s I think he talks about
who you are but what I was thinking to
be well yeah speech is who you are it’s
what you present to the world and it’s
everything of Who You Are
it includes everything that you ever
learned and what you’ve thought and how
You’ thought about it and your errors
and your flaws all of that is you your
feelings which is a hard thing to
identify yeah oh there was a quote that
might relate to this
from the Jordan Peterson’s podcast
titled be be precise in your speech
right and he said the proper way of
manifesting yourself in the world is to
ensure every word that you utter is as
truthful and as meaningful as you can
possibly make it he added adds meaning
to everything and that’s that was his
first I mean that’s his whole thing the
whole thing is what’s what meaning is
there in life and Victor Frankl he
brought it from that brought it from all
the philosophers he studied is what’s
meaning in life so make sure it’s
meaningful make sure your speech is
Meaningful that it has some value to you
especially
hypocritical and maybe that’s yeah that
that rolls onto the Precision side
though I wanted to identify that if if
you’re if you’re not displaying meaning
well it can you not display meaning can
you display maybe we’re always
displaying meaning but it might be a lie
but it’s not a lie because you said it
so what I’m what I’m trying to formulate
here is if your word comes out of you if
your word is every everything that you
are and pres present to the world can
you present something that’s not you
even if you’re trying to lie even if
you’re trying to deceive somebody it’s
still you yeah you’re still presenting
what what you are showing as still
you even even actors would they are they
presenting themselves I’ve noticed like
some actors where it seems like I mean
particularly in ch children actors where
they seem to not be able to act well
they’re just or or maybe they’re trying
to act too hard and the character isn’t
believable I’ve noticed that in well
some of some of the the lower budget
movies lower budget actors don’t get
into the character yeah they they can’t
be someone else they’re just reading
words they’re just stting stating a line
and they’re not
they’re they’re not being who they are
they’re not becoming the the Persona
okay becoming so like actors that are
really good at acting they become that
character and therefore everything that
they say is a manifestation of that
character which is who they are at that
time right right so they they change
their personality their their life while
they go into that well I I’ve heard Jim
Carrey talked about that um when he was
trying to be Mal but they never made
that
movie that when he was trying to be
trying to fill that role he became that
person and his whole Persona changed
during that time frame so that’s the
hypocritical the the putting on a mask a
true actor and perhaps in Shakespeare’s
day they did it well that’s where where
it came from is you you actually you’re
a hypocrite you put on that mask and you
are that person now so you do become
that and I think the good actors the
real actors will be able to do that and
it’s easy to see the independent film
some some Independence and some
lowbudget I don’t know what was it that
really shocked me the other day I think
the people on NCIS made made sense I I
watched that recently they are who they
are they’re they’re not they’re not
faking that but that other show the
Japanese show that I watched
was a complete fake improbable that they
could be saying the things they’re
saying and true there was a language
barrier there what was he oh tracker
have you seen tracker no I forget who
the actor is it the one who was on this
is us he was the Manny and this is us
but trackers you s it’s a new series was
on Paramount but as I’m watching that
that’s it’s a cheaper production than
NCIS I mean he’s a good actor there’s
good actors in it but they’re not but
he’s not invested in the role completely
he’s not this guy he is still just the
actor heartley Jason Harley so he is not
precise in his speech right the the
speech is yeah okay so that’s talking
about
Precision if you’re not precise you’re
you’re acting like someone else so in an
actor’s role you want to act like
someone else you want to just lose your
self and become the first time I saw
that was uh Mr Holland Opus Richard dfus
in that he became someone else he was
not Richard dfus anymore I couldn’t see
Richard dfus in that role he was whoever
the Mr Holland
was so so that’s the first time I saw it
noticed it and I said that’s interesting
that Richard
disappeared so that’s that’s what you
want to do to be precise in your speech
and take the role but in our role
who I am and who you are we can be too
affected by other things that we become
hypocritical to our what you may our
inner values or who we are I may just
may just offer movie quotes as my
Persona and that’s not going to be good
enough that that’s not me yeah who is
who’s to say what is you what you are
that may be who is to say by definition
who is to say what you are what do you
say what do I have to say about that um
what are the
possibilities if you’re a religious
person then you would say it only God
knows perhaps and I don’t know if you’re
a religious person if you’re a if you’re
a non-thinking religious person you
would say only God knows so I don’t care
okay a non-thinking religious person a
religiosity person a Pious individual
perhaps would say all piety is that’s
God’s responsibility so I’m not going to
care for it I don’t care I’m not worth
I’m not concerned about it is that is
that what you’re saying yeah I’m not
concerned I’m not going to think about
it I’m not GNA even try to determine
who’s is what was the question who is to
say who’s to say who you are yeah who’s
to say who you are and if it’s God if it
says well it’s not me I’m going to blame
God someone else who is to say who you
are say more about that then you are you
yourself are the only one that really
knows who you are but do you know who
you are I mean you have to really sit
down and think about who you are to
identify yourself maybe a lot of people
don’t know who they are a lot of people
meaning probably most right yeah I mean
I can’t say everybody nobody knows who
they really are but maybe actually
that’s true nobody actually knows who
they really are because we’re all
affected by our environments and our
relationships and and we’re sitting on
this smooth Blue Marble and and it’s
affecting everybody we’re part of
society and we’re part of the wind and
and you’re you’re upset by a tornado and
or whatever is happening around
you but who’s responsible for that it is
only you only yourself can be
responsible for that so who’s to say who
you are you’re the only one that can say
that and most people don’t say that
don’t try to find out it’s easier not to
try to find out who you are yeah that is
true so your speech what your speech is
or what your word is to be impeccable
with it or to be precise in it you’d
have to identify who you are first and
that’s a challenge that most people
don’t take yeah but it’s a an impossible
challenge as we’ve just discussed okay
it’s impossible to conclude it to come
to a conclusion would be impossible but
the journey is where it’s at right and
and you know where you are today I I
know that I just breathed out I don’t
you don’t think about it you breathe in
you breathe out that breath is not the
final
breath that idea of who I am isn’t the
final who I am either right Discovery
right we are discovering ourselves it’s
most everybody does not care to discover
who they are they are this is who I am
and this is how I’m going to always be
um but really in order to be precise
with your speech and impeccable with
your word then you need to always be on
the Journey of discovering who yourself
is right and every event is going to
change what your feelings are so maybe
discovering who who you are from the
inside is that is that your emotions and
your feelings me pose that as a question
how does emotions and feelings have to
do with and personality and your your
character emotions feelings personality
character what else could make who you
are your likes and your dislikes your
your mannerisms your mannerisms um the
nonverbal actions of your body your body
movements that’s all truly who you are
is what you how you operate with your
senses with the senses of the world what
is explain that what you look at what
you look at is is based on what you’re
focusing on so you’re looking at what
you’re focusing on like you are what you
eat is that is that like that you are
what you watch you are what you listen
to you are who you hang out with yeah
you you have certain proclivities for
all how you use your senses in the world
that’s how we associate with each other
is through our senses through our vision
and our hearing our feeling our um taste
our smell so that’s how you experience
the world and some people won’t smell
skunks others will I however that it
it’s going to affect them differently
they’re going to be the type of person
who doesn’t get offended by skunks or by
body odor let’s say or something else
right even though that odor is there
it’s just not affecting them yeah
they’re not affected by it because their
personality who they are is someone
who’s not going to be affected by that
and what you see so if you see someone
or let’s say you’re racist or not racist
if your vision if you’re viewing people
in a racist status all the time and even
inadvertently that will be that that
will come out in your character in your
reaction to something or to someone the
feeling if it’s cold or hot some people
have a they become someone different
when it gets too cold right right there
are people that are cold and people that
can handle cold cooler temperatures just
fine and they’re relaxed and other
people get up tight if it gets colder
yeah yeah people have Tendencies is that
yeah Tendencies it’s how the world’s
affecting them individually is who they
are so that’s their speech all of those
things and tendencies personality
character and I I look at speech being
well speech is is just everything you
present to the world yeah how you
present yourself to the world uh with
your shoulders backing your head up
right the animals are going to see it
the trees are going to see you the the
wind is going to feel you as it blows
past that’s who you are that’s your
speech so to Precision in speech to be
precise with that is it possible to be
imprecise with that precise is easily
understandable exactly what it is um not
confusing if something is precise it’s
not confusing and how does this relate
to us as individuals not confusing seems
like it’s someone else that’s hearing
you so if you’re going to be precise in
your speech and you’re going to talk to
someone else it has to be not confusing
to them yeah this is how you’re
presenting yourself to the world though
and so therefore how you’re being
received by the world so is that the
responsibility of the world and not you
your Precision the way you just said
that if it’s if it’s how you’re
presenting yourself to the world and how
the world perceives you then that
perception is totally out of your
control yeah okay so going back to what
uh what Jordan Peterson said Ure every
word that you utter is as truthful and
as meaningful as you can possibly make
it without regard I imagine to whether
the world believes you or what they see
or whatever it’s you’re true to true to
your speech as true as you can know for
the time and as meaningful as you can
make it for the time at that time right
that is is that is as true and
meaningful as you can possibly make it I
mean if you’re sick you’re going to
possibly right you’re the possibility of
it being truer or
meaningful is probably less and and is
it is it obvious isn’t it obvious that
you’re going to be more meaningful as
you age and more truthful as you age
there there will be truths that you
understand now in time if you’ve
considered it and if you’re trying to
identify Who You Are are you’re going to
become closer to who you are the older
you get and the more you study it right
so the the truth and meaning that you
had last week or 10 years ago or 20
years ago isn’t nearly as true as today
right it was as true as it could have
been it was true for the time so is
truth your word Who We Are Who We Are is
Progressive right who we are is
Progressive and our understanding of
oursel is Progressive and our meaning is
Progressive also and I agree with that
so how do you be precise in that
progression um precise implies a fine
point it’s it’s like what a slice a
slice of the life you slice your life
here and that is a precise cut and you
can now gosh this is
hard it’s it’s who you are at the minute
at that minute you’re you’re being as
honest as you can as honest as
as true to your what was the meaning
meaning and true as true to yourself and
as meaningful as you can be in the in
the moment in that moment based on how
far you are in your understanding of
yourself right and hopefully you
continue looking and trying to see what
What feelings you have and what your
emotions are and and what your
understandings of the world and others
around you so Precision I think we need
to turn precis ision instead of being
being understood on and not confusing
it’s okay to be confusing sometimes
we’re
confused okay yeah sometimes sometimes
we’re confused sometimes we’re confusing
to other people right if you’re as
precise as you can as to yourself you
might be confusing to a lot of people
right and you might still be a little
confused yourself but you’re trying to
clear that confusion so that the attempt
to clear as much confusion as possible
would be precision as well as precise as
I can be we can’t be
completely well what was it no one is
completely clean or pure nothing is
completely pure we’re talking about to
purify to to distill you’re you’re
trying to distill your character and
your characteristics and who you are and
your attributes to the most pure that
you can be but it’s always going to be
able to be distilled more more purified
more there is no 100% pure version of
you there’s only 99 and 94 hundreds per
pure soap you’re not going to get to
that full capacity this is this is who I
am you can say that but you have to
allow and does the the definition of
pure not the definition the um the
goalpost of what pure is does that is
that always moving further away from
from you as well while you are while
you’re are trying to become as distilled
as you can in your understanding of
yourself you’re you’re growing through
that and Perfection is increasingly
further away farther away right from you
because you’re growing and so therefore
it it’s growing as well that idea of
what perfect is perfection is a receding
Horizon it has to be yeah all the time
you you can get something good and then
it’s going to you can get better you can
get better on it it can be done better
it can be spoken better and you can be
better you can think about things better
you can treat other people better one
thing Jordan Peterson as as he wrote his
first book in the 80s he was 20 years
old mid 20s you know as he’s writing his
book 20s maybe 30 I heard that his first
book was maps of meaning maps of meaning
yeah is that true when he was 20ish took
him 15 years to write it took him 15
years to write it he started it when he
started grad school and I’m certain he
started grad school in his 20s I don’t
know that’s crazy but 15 years to write
it he said he rewrote every sentence 50
times at least because and and he said
it just in this last one of his last
interviews what he’s talking about now
he says he he tries to say everything he
says in that description that he gave is
truthful and as meaningful as you can he
tries to say things that he cannot break
but in reality he’s able to break them
still if he were to write maps of
meaning again chances he would
completely change every sentence he
could still edit it right he’s not going
to change that book he’s writing other
books and we who we who wrestle with God
his next book is going to come out and
it’s going to come out it’s going to be
whatever it is and then it’ll be in
writing and he won’t work on changing
that you’ll just move on to building the
next thing right at some point you have
to stop trying to reach Perfection and
and publish something and publish
something otherwise or speak a word yeah
cuz we’re talking about Precision in
speech you have to not worry because you
can get yourself so tied up that I can’t
present myself to the world because I
don’t know who I am yeah and become a
Hermit become just totally absorbed in
yourself that’s what was it self- absor
self-absorption now self-consciousness
is misery that’s the thing I heard
Jordan talk about recently it’s
miserable to be totally self-conscious
and that’s what turns you inside
yourself it says I don’t know enough
about myself to present myself to the
world I can’t I can’t serve I can’t be
in the community can’t help anything
else out there I can’t even talk out
there yeah so the definition if we use
the definition of speech as your whole
self then it would be impossible to have
perfect speech but precise speech
happens all the time as long as you know
as much about yourself as you can where
you’re at yeah Precision has nothing to
do with perfection
right you could be precise even though
it’s not perfect perfect yeah I don’t
know how that works of science
mathematics seems to be a precise
Perfect 2 + 2 equal 4 unless you you can
make it not equal that yeah with other
interpretations or other things that can
come into it where one can equal zero
and you can prove that with theorems and
depends on yeah it depends on the this
strategy 1 plus 1 is not equal two 1+ 1
equals infinity depends on what you’re
talking about one idea plus another idea
can be exponential if it’s just one
digit plus one digit those are that
maybe two I don’t know if that that can
even be defined as perfect and precise
but if you talk about a precise idea
ideas
grow precise in your
speech okay so how about we use a
different definition of speech um and
have it be actually like the first
definition of speech in the dictionary
which is what is that verbal words
verbal
words let’s see what I can find I
thought I had an app for the old uh the
old dictionary 1829 do you think that
that’s different than what we would say
speeches today maybe that’s why they
have those old dictionaries I interested
in
knowing 1828
The Faculty of uttering articulate
sounds or words as in human beings The
Faculty of expressing Thoughts by words
or articulate sounds okay so
articulating words out of sounds and
every language has its own way of doing
that that articulation so speech can be
in every language 170 languages or more
I know each language has its own way of
speech yeah
um so communication communicating your
thoughts in spoken words how to be
precise in that way what does it mean to
be precise that way that definition
communicating your thoughts in spoken
words it would have to be your thought
there there’s all kinds of different
persuasive speech or comparative speech
or um consoling speech it has to have a
purpose your speech has to have a
purpose if you’re going to try to
precise identify whe whether it’s
precise or not what’s the purpose of the
speech and you indicated communicating
your thoughts so if if getting your
thoughts out of your head to your mouth
is the speech we’re talking about still
you have to identify what your thought
actually was yeah okay so let’s assume
you know what your thought was you know
what you’re trying to say and you’re
just having a really hard time saying it
because you don’t understand how to be
precise with it maybe you don’t know
enough words words you don’t know the
right words to say like you maybe maybe
you know words that are like what you
mean but you’re you know like what I’m
doing right
now right and it’s they they talk about
that all the time when someone feels
something they feel something they have
a their testimony or something they
that’s something they need to tell
somebody right okay testimony let’s say
someone feels something is spiritually
in their mind and they want to relay
that to someone else and talk about what
their thought was sometimes there’s no
words near-death experiences commonly
they say there’s no words I can’t
explain what I saw yeah so there’s no
way to be precise in some instances and
maybe many instances it’s
undefinable in the words that you know
well in the words that you know or in
language is what they say like the color
scheme what was that podcast we listen
to Martha or whatever her name was oh my
am alic she said the colors yeah in that
one the Spectrum isn’t isn’t just red
green and
blue it’s so much more than that and you
can’t describe what it is yeah is it
describable though it might be in the
realm it exists so that talks about
where we are on this Earth on this Blue
Marble that we’re rolling around on we
know what’s here we don’t know what’s
elsewhere and if and if you’re blessed
with an else squ thought that
multi-dimensional thinking or something
so if you if you can identify something
it’s just not it’s it’s other worldly or
it’s not not physically anything I saw
it’s got to be I don’t think you can be
precise that’s that’s my general General
thought about why everyone lies
everything comes out as a lie if it’s
imprecise is it a lie yeah I mean that’s
what Jordan Peterson would say well he
says he says tell the truth yeah or at
least don’t lie and and the don’t lie he
identifies as as malicious don’t lie on
purpose don’t know that you’re lying
know that there’s something true and
you’re just going to say something
different so don’t lie on purpose I
think that still leaves open the fact
that you’re not going to be precise
exactly in everything right do you have
a copy of the 12 rules of life I only
have it in Audi book so I couldn’t see
with my eyes yeah I have it here I have
it here is there somewhere like where he
gives just a few sentences that’s all
about this in the 10th rule be precise
in your speech yeah did he did he put it
as precisely as he could somewhere that
he didn’t have to take a whole chapter
for if there’s a a focal sentence likely
not I mean it says it all in the title I
guess be precise your speech that’s as
precise as you can be well and he starts
out with an example he doesn’t start out
with the definitive let’s see if he ends
with a definitive statement probably not
you wouldn’t do that either see where he
ends confront the chaos of being Take
Aim against a sea of troubles specify
your destination and chart your course
admit to what you want tell those around
you who you are narrow and gaze
attentively and move forward
forthrightly be precise in your speech
yeah that’s about as all you can do yeah
we did identify it chart your course be
honest in it admit what you want not
what you justify that you deserve but
what you want this is what I want
there’s a difference between what you
need and what you want so just identify
what you want tell those around you who
you are so I think all the stories that
he’s come up with probably come to that
thing narrow and gaze attentively
narrow so narrow your attention try to
keep your attention focused gaze
attentively so that means noticing
everything around you being
circumspect understanding everything
that’s there and move forward
forthrightly that may be the best word
is forthrightly trying to find the right
in your next step is that what that
means to you I think so forward and
rightly just doing your best to find the
next right step forward and it’s always
going to be something else it’s not
going to be where you’ve already been
yeah that’s that reminds me of the song
that Anna sings in Frozen 2 do you
remember that do you remember that song
I don’t I only know cold I don’t know
what the cold song ISO whatever what
does she sing what does Anna sing in
Frozen 2 it’s it’s called the next right
thing I believe okay let me see if I can
let me see if I can find the lyrics real
quick because that would be and and it
makes sense you know we’re talking about
archetypical ideas and precision of
speech and forthrightly being the next
thing it has to be found is that
probably what this circumstance is in
the five topics is where do you find it
where do you find it in the world if
it’s a
true topic it has to be found everywhere
right it’s I wonder if that’s in
relationship but it’s it’s in there like
where where is this where is it in the
world in relation to other parts of life
or if if we’re saying forthrightly is
the is the main goal say instead of
precising your speech to be forthright
and that may be what it’s saying we go
down to just one word to mean all of
that you you should be able to find
forthrightness in everything
animal the animal kingdom should have
forthrightness if it’s a good value a
good character trait plants should be
forth right I I believe they are they
must be they’re trying for the next best
thing even if they’re living in an a bad
situation they’re going going for the
next best right move they can make
towards the sun towards whatever it is
that that they know Against Gravity
because that’s what where generally the
son is it’s against gravity forthright
um I looked up the definition of that
just to make sure that we were speaking
correctly yeah because we’re just we’re
just making that up it’s just made it up
it’s all made up anyway we we know that
direct and outspoken straightforward and
honest so it doesn’t talk about trying
to find something that definition just
talks about what’s past what’s behind it
the archaic second definition proceeding
directly forward proceeding directly
forward so it’s that is somewhat saying
taking the next step but this
forthrightly rightly doesn’t mean what I
would want it to mean I mean in the
dictionary I would create I would I
would want to make rightly point to the
Future say you’re trying to hedge your
focus in your your direction correctly
with your stepping forward not just
stepping forward from an honest base
where you came from didn’t that
definition just talk about the base
you’re coming from well let me read it
again and then you can tell me if it
does um direct and outspoken
straightforward and honest
straightforward and honest to what has
to be straightforward and honest to to
now to this current situation or to your
stance where you came from is the way
I’m seeing that and how come I always
have to give the answers tell me what
you think about that sentence H because
you are the Thinker you have an opinion
on that definition is the definition
forthright enough for you it does feel
like there is more that can be said
about it are we becoming more precise as
as we’re discussing what it could mean
what is the meaning behind this word
like the dictionary gives you
definitions of things but it doesn’t
give you the meaning of words right and
can it mean more can the word mean more
more than what the dictionary definition
is you know that uh movie the professor
and the madman right yeah uh well it was
a movie based on a book based on a real
story right um Simon Winchester the main
subject or the you know the professor in
that duo he wrote another book called
the meaning of everything and I’m uh
third of the way through it but it’s
really just a story about about
compiling the the dictionary
and and how they built the dictionary
from that story what I understand of it
is they looked in literature for the
words and tried to identify the meaning
that the author gave it right and that’s
how they determined the dictionary and
the actual definition now yes that’s how
the the auxford dictionary came to be
right and that’s that’s unish for
another word that
doesn’t now what we do we we type in the
word into our search bar and it comes up
with four words and then it shows you
the similar words and it shows you the
opposite words and you’re just meant to
derive your own meaning from this word
based on all of these words that you
hope you know I mean and isn’t that
that’s what we’re talking about
Precision in your in your speech this
isn’t Precision in speech we’re talking
about we’re talking about prec be
precise in your speech it it’s it’s
where where you come from your meaning
can be totally different from the
dictionary meaning Charles Dickens
didn’t have the the end all and be all
of using a word in his
novels right he used it in a certain
stance and all other 30 authors that
have used it in literature in the last
2,000 years they didn’t have the final
final word either the final word doesn’t
exist anymore than Precision doesn’t
exist it none of it none of it is real
it’s all made up right I keep telling
James that he asks me uh how uh how do
you how do you think we should um you
know wash this blanket and I say well I
mean this is what I would do but really
all the rules are made up so you could
just as long as it’s cleaner as it was
before Greening clean um key key came up
with that last night she was she’s in
this delusional not delusional but a
disoriented State um and we’re thinking
that it’s because of electrolytes and
she got dehydrated and your brain does
funny things when it’s dehydrated yeah
so with that she was saying I feel
disoriented I feel like I’m not part of
this I can see that I’m part of
something that’s real and this life
where I’m sitting right now in this room
is is fake is not reality kind of what
you said none of the nothing that we do
is is real we’re we’re we inventing
everything yeah yeah and we’re inventing
the meanings to these words that we
looking up the definitions and that
whole movie professor and the madman
they’re they’re the same individual just
trying to identify what words might mean
what they might mean not what they do
mean yeah because we don’t have that
Genesis where where God was told Adam
and showed him all the animals and found
out what Adam would name them there were
there weren’t there’s not a Precision
there wasn’t a even in the beginning the
way that that the story is told it was
told let’s let you figure out what you
want to call it it’s like you said
cleaning a blanket Adam how do you want
to clean that blanket and whatever you
do is going to be fine but clean just
means something to you so what does
clean mean it mean dirtier than it was
before or cleaner than it was before
well I’m using my definition to your
definition clean yeah and so God didn’t
say here’s the rules here’s all the
definitions he said Adam you figure out
the
definitions let’s see what you come up
with to see what he would name the
animals yeah so that is um you know
that’s all well and good however how do
you help other people understand who you
are if you’re you if you’re making up
the meaning to all of your words to who
you are yeah like
forthrightly how I read that now is
different than Jordan Peterson wrote it
and maybe he has that that’ be another
question for him did you did you think
that that talked about future events
yeah forthrightly stepping into the
future and maybe he meant it that way
and this is one way that you know in
context of what he was saying it it may
change the the definition of that word
50 years from now when the new Oxford
dictionary comes out with all of these
adjustments Jordan was able to adjust a
word a little bit based on how he used
it in context but we all do our speech
PR precises precise what we think we
want to mean then it’s not that we’re
precise to what someone else said was
the
rule I think that’s hypocritical that’s
the hypocritical we want to get away
from we want to be precise to who we are
and my wife has problems with that she
calls it tangents and and you’re
inventing new definitions for stuff that
doesn’t really
exist well just reminder that it’s all
made up anyway so how do you get people
to agree with that though what what if
someone believes Oxford dictionary is
the end all be all that is the the thing
that you have to go live by and so in
the dictionary it says this is the
meaning you can’t add a different
meaning to that word so the purpose the
purpose of precise speech the goal of it
would be so that other people can
understand you
understand what you’re talking about you
say it as precisely as you can then if
you’re a speaker and if you’re if the
speech you’re talking about is trying to
convey something to someone else your
thoughts or your topic if you want to
sufficiently cover a topic then
Precision does mean how the receiver is
able to understand it and conceive and
yeah comprehend what it is that that
you’re saying so you do use 48 fourth
grade
language use language that everyone can
understand and if you have to use a word
that’s more descriptive like
forthrightly you have to be able to
identify what that actually means how
you’re using it right and you might have
to just say to yourself if I’m using
this word I’ve got to make sure that I
agree with what the dictionary says it
means and because that’s what people are
going to go to when they’re trying to
figure out what I was meaning what I
meant do you have to so you’re saying
you have to to consider oh no there I
mean you don’t have to but but maybe
that’s maybe that’s a consideration that
you would make you’re like should I use
this word and if I use this word do I
agree with what this dictionary says
about it or do I need to write more that
may be part of the 50 s revisions of
every sentence that Jordan Peterson went
through in first book and and how he
revises the sentence now there may be
other words I I don’t know that there
are yeah he does say a lot lot of like
qualifier things um when he makes an
assertion he uses like in my estimation
or as far as I can figure yeah you know
he’s he’s very
noncommitted to convincing other people
that what he’s saying is actually the
truth um because he’s he doesn’t know he
doesn’t know that he’s committed yeah
he’s committed to saying this is my
opinion this is what I’ve thought I’ve
considered this for a long time but it
takes is something that you should
consider for 10 years and probably
longer yeah so it’s a thought that that
you and this is where I’ve come to so
far it seems to me yeah well this is why
philosophy is so fun is because there’s
no end right you can do it your whole
life and never finish the
puzzle because it doesn’t yeah it
doesn’t end there there is no finish
right and so Precision doesn’t mean it’s
finished you know
the never never never never never give
up that um Winston Churchill’s famous
words how many Nevers did he actually
use there’s probably a given number but
was that the right number of
Nevers yeah did he accidentally double
negative himself was it precisely the
right
number yeah never and never is that a
pot is that a yes and that not a no
always never never means always yeah yes
did he did he actually say always give
up and did he even consider that when he
was saying it that’s not the meaning of
his phrase isn’t how many am I using it
I am I double negativing
myself am I am I erasing the actual
meaning where you could literally say
yeah he’s saying depends on how many
times he used it so if he used it an
even number of times then he’s saying
always give
up he would have had to use it a an an
an odd number of times in order to be
precise in the negative
connotation and the only way to know for
sure how many he said was to be there
and count them in real time because was
it recorded now if it was if it was
recorded it could be edited to have yeah
that’s right whatever the editor
believes it should have been yeah
someone would have edited one more in
there to say see he actually meant
positive you meant give
up but he was precise and he when he
said that phrase when it was done or
like um Martin Luther King I Have a
Dream that was done in the moment it
wasn’t planned for and and worked
on the what he worked on and planned for
weeks in advance and months in advance
was a totally different speech
what he saw when he saw the crowd he
changed it to I have a
dream that’s interesting and he just
started talking and it was it was honest
it was precise in the speech that he
needed to give to the community he was
in front of so I I think that that’s
important
too that’s the way I understand Martin
Luther King’s Story Martin Luther King
Jr was it Junior that did that I have a
dream yeah was Martin
Lu out on the mall Jordan Peterson talk
about that when he’s in front of an
audience that he gauges what he’s saying
as to whether the audience is engaged
with he says I I I listen and he was
silent he said see no one’s
talking because you’re with me you’re
with me in this conversation right now I
I’ve we’re in the same in the same realm
we’re being precise there there was
there’s Precision in that there’s it’s
imprecise if you’re losing people and
they’re having different conversations
and they’re falling falling away and you
can tell that too if you’re losing an
audience so I listen for that and if I
start failing I know that I’m not I’m
not being meaningful enough with my
speech so Precision being mean
meaningful and truthful either I’m
lying
yeah I feel like we only talked about
half of what this could
mean and the whole first first page of
my notes in preparation for this
conversation didn’t get
touched because we jumped right to the
second page oh so there’s a precursor
that didn’t get talked about no it was
just like my first thoughts didn’t get
talked about we just jumped into the the
deeper
contemplated thoughts that’s what we did
all of the shallow stuff got left behind
and didn’t get touched
and is that appropriate in Precision of
speech I I personally hate small talk is
all of that first page small it is
possible it’s possible it’s just what
the dictionary would have
said however when I’m thinking about the
audience of this conversation you and I
enjoy what we talked about but maybe
it’s not relevant to someone else which
doesn’t matter doesn’t have to be
relevant to them anyone else it depends
on what the purpose is right so and
that’s that’s clearly I mean where where
your speech the purpose of your speech
is important to
consider um if we knew there was an
audience we’re talking to and we could
watch that audience and see what they
need to hear but there’s not it’s just
you and I that’s true this
conversation is supposed to be just you
and I it’s not it’s not for them if they
want to hear it that’s fine and and they
can see what they think about the Oxford
dictionary and whether dictionary
definitions mean anything or not okay is
there anything else so we weren’t
talking about necessarily dictionary
we’re talking about Precision so precise
in the dictionary yeah there’s a whole
world of other
things I think we’re okay we can pull
this together and then it’ll have to
have additions to it yeah this isn’t the
last time we’re going to talk about
precise or speech right or self yeah
let’s um let’s end right there and then
find find where else the conversation
takes us okay yeah I think that’s fine
okay
Do you have a minute? 
Leave a comment