Have a schizophrenic poem to share? Reflections on an experience you've had complimenting others more than you usually do? An illustration of the importance of pragmatics and utterance pairs?
Sometimes these experiments don't go as planned. I started complimenting someone more than usual, and instead of suspicion and anger, I got someone who acted as if I was just now realizing how great they are. :/
Here is my schizophrenic poem based on real life experiences *shudder*
Bunny rabid and dying eggs in despair “I don’t want a haircut!” at the other end Peeking through the window, glazed, donuts—fill the air Grand opening: oh so tired; visit me man of sand Do I have to wash my hair?
I chose to compliment two of my friends, I could not get one of them alone long enough for it to be a solo thing, pretty excessively. I have to confess right now that my friends and I already have a pretty affectionate relationship, so compliments are nothing new, but I really did try to step it up. I complimented them both incessantly, or as frequently as I could without sounding forced or not genuine.
To be honest, I was a little disappointed in their reactions. They did not seem to react at all. They would smile and thank me, accepting them, or responding in turn with compliments of their own. Once or twice they might have given me an odd look- suspicion maybe?-but it was nothing major. They did not seem to notice or care at all.
It seemed that I had gone on completely unnoticed until just now as I was responding to this blog. When these two friends asked me what my homework was exactly, I told them the truth about how I had been using them for linguistic experimentation. Immediately they jumped on me saying things like “I knew something was off!” and “We knew something was going on. We were just talking about it!” Apparently they did notice, but were too polite to say anything, which I found to be a really interesting view into what we as a society view to be socially acceptable.
I don’t know, maybe that is just me. Did anyone else have a similar experience?
I tried to overly compliment a few friends, and it ended as I expected. Most of them seemed confused after my fifth compliment in a row, some asking if I wanted something from them. I was careful to not compliment women in this game, because I didn't want to be accused of being flirtatious (having a girlfriend, this was a personal preference thing). I did overly compliment my girlfriend, and she became very angry. I think this was probably because I've performed SEVERAL other linguistic experiments on her. All I have to say is that I am lucky that she loves me, because I think she is tired of me doing these weird things to her. It was a very mixed bag of reactions from these individuals, but I cannot complain at the diversity of response. I had a lot of fun!
I have to join in on this MUCH later than I should've by saying that Igor REALLY shouldn't have dropped the brain of Hans Delbruck and replaced it with "Abby…someone"…. But I can't NOT comment on something YF related. On a side note, I remember doing this experiment a couple years ago where I was especially nice to people and they asked me what I wanted and why I was being so nice (apparently that's very unlike me…hmm).
Sometimes these experiments don't go as planned. I started complimenting someone more than usual, and instead of suspicion and anger, I got someone who acted as if I was just now realizing how great they are. :/
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty funny, Miranda! You never know how vain someone is until you include them in a linguistics experiment, I suppose. ;)
ReplyDeleteHere is my schizophrenic poem based on real life experiences *shudder*
ReplyDeleteBunny rabid and dying eggs in despair
“I don’t want a haircut!” at the other end
Peeking through the window, glazed, donuts—fill the air
Grand opening: oh so tired; visit me man of sand
Do I have to wash my hair?
I chose to compliment two of my friends, I could not get one of them alone long enough for it to be a solo thing, pretty excessively. I have to confess right now that my friends and I already have a pretty affectionate relationship, so compliments are nothing new, but I really did try to step it up. I complimented them both incessantly, or as frequently as I could without sounding forced or not genuine.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I was a little disappointed in their reactions. They did not seem to react at all. They would smile and thank me, accepting them, or responding in turn with compliments of their own. Once or twice they might have given me an odd look- suspicion maybe?-but it was nothing major. They did not seem to notice or care at all.
It seemed that I had gone on completely unnoticed until just now as I was responding to this blog. When these two friends asked me what my homework was exactly, I told them the truth about how I had been using them for linguistic experimentation. Immediately they jumped on me saying things like “I knew something was off!” and “We knew something was going on. We were just talking about it!” Apparently they did notice, but were too polite to say anything, which I found to be a really interesting view into what we as a society view to be socially acceptable.
I don’t know, maybe that is just me. Did anyone else have a similar experience?
I tried to overly compliment a few friends, and it ended as I expected. Most of them seemed confused after my fifth compliment in a row, some asking if I wanted something from them. I was careful to not compliment women in this game, because I didn't want to be accused of being flirtatious (having a girlfriend, this was a personal preference thing). I did overly compliment my girlfriend, and she became very angry. I think this was probably because I've performed SEVERAL other linguistic experiments on her. All I have to say is that I am lucky that she loves me, because I think she is tired of me doing these weird things to her. It was a very mixed bag of reactions from these individuals, but I cannot complain at the diversity of response. I had a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteI have to join in on this MUCH later than I should've by saying that Igor REALLY shouldn't have dropped the brain of Hans Delbruck and replaced it with "Abby…someone"….
ReplyDeleteBut I can't NOT comment on something YF related.
On a side note, I remember doing this experiment a couple years ago where I was especially nice to people and they asked me what I wanted and why I was being so nice (apparently that's very unlike me…hmm).