ARTFUL NEGOTIATION

WORD

 

It is often stated that 70% of communication is achieved through body language alone, while the remaining 30% is verbal.  Perhaps one of the most irrevocably ingrained, and therefore most important, aspects of our species is our ability and need to communicate.  It is the basis for so many, if not all other, endeavors.  Love, science, religion, and other progressive institutions hinge on this concept of communication.  Such tremendous importance on this concept  leaves one to ponder just how effectively or genuinely it is executed.  So many times we have found ourselves inspired by speech; whether before a game, in a movie, or in political settings.  We have also experienced being reduced to an unintelligible and contorting mess in appreciation of the delivery of certain humor, while, conversely, a sombre poem can bring us to melancholy.  If not to stimulate our emotions, then an article can leave us pensive and reflective with the new information we have acquired.  In any case, language, particularly written language, has had and continues to have widespread effect in our society.  Despite the claim of many a post-modernist, words convey meaning and this meaning allows them (words) to be imbued with power.  To deny this is to be self-refuting; the thought process used for the negation is itself an employment of language.    

While words are one of our most effective methods of communication, especially long distance communication, they can also be used to miscommunicate.  The power of words is undeniable- one only needs to be a large room of people and bear witness to what ensues after someone shouts “BOMB!” or “FIRE!” if more evidence is required.  This same power in words, however, in all its emotional-evoking splendor, can and has been used to deceive and manipulate.  Because words are directly connected to emotions, the aggregate meaning conveyed by a written piece can be easily overlooked by the emotions triggered from that same piece.  Objective, even subjective, meaning becomes of secondary importance to the receiver of the words; emotion being primary in importance.  Only only needs to cause pleasant feelings in a reader to attract him, and unpleasant feelings to estrange him.  

 

PART 2

 

Further research has been done on the Nacerima educational practices. Recently, scientists have found remains of mysterious bright yellow shuttles found deep underground. These fossils were found to be linked to old constructions of the Nacerima where it has been said that generations of their children were brainwashed. Scientists have determined that these children entered these vessels in order to be transported to these thought correction centers scattered around the lands. These vessels would periodically stop at predetermined locations and times to extricate more slaves.

 

Once they arrive at the center the neophytes disperse into their respective chambers, according to their age. At each chamber, a director of thought begins his cognitive reconstruction on the brains of the neophytes. These methods of reconstruction have been found to be profoundly consistent for over a century with very little to no revisions. Additionally, there are certain behaviours that must be strictly enforced upon the neophytes inside each chamber. For example, if a neophyte wishes to speak, he or she is required to raise his or her hand towards the sky in a special ritual where the cognitive reconstructionist will recognize or disregard his or her gesture. This ritual is an interesting phenomenon among the neophytes as some participate, some don’t, but never the less, there is an overall discontent with the ones who use this ritual to prolong the reconstructionist’s period. There is an even more interesting and mentally barbaric ritual in which the reconstructionist forces the neophytes to be silent in speech and to repeatedly color in circles. When a neophyte is in need of elimination, he or she has to obtain the approval of the reconstructionist in the form of a sacred and written blessing.  The Neophyte would then cautiously enter the tunnels connecting each chamber and proceed towards the chamber of excretion.

 

Maybe the most interesting and barbaric ritual of each day is the stampede to the food centers inside these loohcshgih. Due to the overcrowding of the loohcshgih the food centers were only open for a certain amount of time forcing each neophyte to gorge themselves with the substance these food centers call “doof.” There are horror stories told of this doof where many struggled to eat, but were forced to because it was the only thing available. After these inhumanely short periods of time the neophyte would stampede back to his or her chamber hoping to survive and begin adopting the reconstructionist’s “hturt”, thereby losing his or her individuality some more.

Towards the end of the day, each neophyte is anxious to return to the bright yellow shuttles for transportation back home. However, the reconstructionist must transmit one last piece of “hturt”, and that is a phenomenon known as “krowemoh.” The neophytes are given somewhat of a choice when it comes to completing this “krowemoh” and most do participate in this ritual. It is a ritual that must be performed in the privacy of one’s own living quarters and must be returned to the thought correction center the next day or else a severe punishment would ensue.