Most of us don't and never will think about how they have a conversation. They just do it.
There's nothing wrong with that when we all pretty much think and work in the same way. The basics being (it's just my wild stab at linguistics without having studied it at all):
- Recalling Experiences
We tell people about things we've done, seen, heard, thought in the past.
"I went to this great pub the other night....got completely pissed!"
- Conveying Information
Slightly different in that we're informing people in order that they too can benefit from our experiences or things we've learned.
"The pub is pretty good, it's the one just off Union Street. Just where that arcade is."
- Lies
Speak for themselves I suppose. But obviously there are different levels; white lies,
"I had about eight pints and I was still completely sober at the end of the night"
- Relistening/Retelling
I had about eight pints and I was still completely sober at the end of the night
"I had about eight pints and I was still completely sober at the end of the night"
Respect...
It’s a tough one but if you sit down and think about it logically, respect is something that is tough to gain, easily lost. But worst of all, if you lose it, it’s near impossible to regain it.
On the plus side though, it is a bonus if you actually realise that this is the case and you don’t carry on the rest of your life not knowing this. In fact, hang on, is it maybe better not to know?
In order to function as a human being, or in order to utilise all (or at least the vast majority) of the functions that we have available to us, we have to be able to convey or opinions to others. Yes, we can say ‘what we saw’ (I went to the Celtic game, it was 2-1), say ‘what’s going to happen’ (I’m going to go to the next game), say things that ‘are’ but in order to have that ‘conversation’, in order to gain ‘respect’ for your opinions, in order to differentiate your ‘self’ from another ‘self’, is the opinion or your ‘take’ on things (good score but wish we still had Tierney).
So, to re-cap we’ve got:
Regurgitate information we’ve gathered
Provide information about the future or past
Form and then convey your opinions, about everything and anything
Now….
Let’s stick this into my world. I can’t harvest what’s going on, here there and everywhere. I can’t tell anyone what I did and I can’t tell anyone what i’m going to do. So, even when I do form an opinion about any of this, why the hell is anyone going to take it onboard? And the reality of all this is, why should they?
Putting the aspect of living through this to one side and beginning to analyse yourself as a 'subject', you realise that you have a titanic advantage on any other scientist attempting to study these aspects of neurology.