The Synchronicity of Language

The Synchronicity of Language

Peter Hatherley on how language interweaves text for clarity creating ripples across the web.

A great read to understand the concept of conceptual thinking when writing text for the web.

#semanticwriting  

Originally shared by Peter Hatherley

The Synchronicity of Language

Language is the soul of our communication. It provides the glue that joins us together or becomes the abrasive that tears us apart. Semantics is all about meaning and a person who is looking for more meaning can expand their understanding exponentially by simply viewing the wider semantic pool that is inherently connected to any word or concept.

Google's shift towards #semanticunderstanding  is significant for us all. The AI actually sees a far wider picture than we do but it appears that some people are stumbling at the entrance regarding what this all means. Some falsely  believe that this is the end of intelligent analysis or a means of exclusion for others but it is in effect the complete opposite. It potentially allows people to think more effectively and more intelligently than they ever have before

Predictive Semantics generates related words that have been directly established through language. It incorporates an extremely large pool of English words and then categorises them as being either negative and positive according to the general acceptance of what is good and what is bad in society. Nothing is left out. This is language as it is warts and all.

This semantic output indicates the right way to act in a far richer fashion than what was  previously available. 200 or more related words can give far more weight to why unforgiveness  is a bad thing rather than the old-school linear descriptions we find in a dictionary or a thesaurus. In fact one word can produce 1000's of variations and connections that are holistically interwoven into the fabric of that concept. The amazing thing we noticed in our testing is that our brains appear to be able to quickly comprehend this diversity at a glance and so we can quickly  perceive macro themes (on both sides of the equation), even if we only look at very small snapshots of it.

This is not to be confused with semantic mark up ( ..Thanks especially to Ammon Johns for defining this so very accurately earlier today :)) David Amerland has also shared regarding the rise of semantically optimised content both here http://goo.gl/6mxdVn and in other places

We call this phenomena #predictivesemantics . To give you an idea of how this is used let me relate to a private conversation that Mani Saint-Victor and I had earlier today. It shows how this knowledge can be used for good and not just for its marketing potential. It reveals how the removal of labels help others that are sorely  afflicted by them.

Interesting the labels thing Mani Saint-Victor it's something I'm very passionate about. Hurtful diagnosis can sometimes lead to a life of misery.

I was recently talking with someone who'd been labelled as having Aspergers. He was a really nice young guy and I was talking to my friend about labels and the dangers of them. He piped up saying some people say I've got Aspergers. So I explained to him that it's a convenient label for someone who is usually incredibly focused and doesn't fit the general picture of what society thinks. This guy was an incredibly talented programmer and it was all he ever talked about. As I said to him it's just because you're different and they just want to put you in a box and exclude you. Some people would pay $1000's to get that level of focus! In a way it's advantage not a disadvantage. It was the first time I'd ever met him but the smile on his face was worth the price of admission by itself! I'm all for the removal of stigma and labeling it's gone on far too long and has done far too much damage, in my view.

When it comes to abuse I found some interesting words that were attached to it semantically. Obviously BS is right up there as is abase, bossy, SOB, sobbing and abyss are all obvious but the one that's stood out to me is "busy". I've noticed some people that have suffered in this way continue to keep really busy even well after the abuse. It seems like an ongoing habit that sometimes extends past it's use by date. I believe it's because they began trying to crowd out those thoughts in the first place by working so hard that they didn't have to think about it.

So as you see from the first example that this type of thinking widens our perspective to remove labels and enhance understanding. To free the slaves of diagnosis from their life long sentences of exclusion that were imposed by others who actually thought that they were doing them a favour.

In the second the isolation of the behaviour could potentially bring clarity to a life that would have always been overly busy.