My Mom’s School of Anti-Fragility #3

Clarity & Comfort

My mom hates watching post-game interviews with athletes. As a child, we’d stay tuned for post-game interviews, and she would offer ruthless reactions when athletes responded to reporter’s questions with, “Um, well, you know….”

She would clap back, “No. We don’t know!”

Her reaction made an impression on me. This, however, wasn’t her only issue with people’s speech acts. She and my father both made big deals about ending sentences with prepositions and knowing whether to say you did “good” or “well.” Proper and clear speech mattered.

When it comes to speech, one of the great, modern temptations, especially among the young, is not to say much of anything clearly. Yet in response to that same vague speech, we want everything in return.

Here’s what I mean: Contemporary language — with its over use of words like “things,” “uncomfortable,” “problematic,” — is designed to provoke responses and illicit behaviors without ever positing a position or proposition. More and more, it’s becoming harder and harder to know what people mean when they speak.