Hayakawa Ch. 10

Hayakawa Chapter 10

• Giving Things Names

o A differentiation set itself up, and, abstracting the common characteristics.

o The question what is it really? Or what is its right name? are nonsense questions.

o Things can only have “right names” only if there is a necessary connection between symbols and things being symbolized.

o What we call things and where we draw the line between one class of things and another depends upon the interests we have and the purpose of the classification.

o Each is useful for its purpose.

o If our culture upbringing was different, the world would look different to us.

o Also, many people can’t distinguish between like things. For example salmon, perch, pickerel, etc. They just call them “fish.”

o When we name something we are classifying.

o The individual object or event we are naming has no name and belongs to no class until we put it in one.

o The extensional meaning of a word determines a prior existence.

o In matters of “race” and “nationality”, in the way in which classifications work is especially apparent.

o The effect that each classification has upon what he may or many not do constitutes their “reality.”

o It would be exactly as justifiable to say that any person with even a small amount of “white blood” is “white”. Because the former system of classification suits the convenience of those making the classification.

o Classification isn’t a matter of identifying “essences” but it is simply a reflection of social convenience or necessity.

o As soon as the process of classification is completed, our attitudes and our conduct are determined.

• The Blocked Mind

o Snap judgments suggests that such errors can be avoided by thinking more slowly; this isn’t the case, for some people think very slowly with no better results.

o What we are concerned with is the way in which we block the development of our own minds by automatic reactions.

o Some people may say, “A Jew is a Jew and there’s no getting