Through a Glass, Darkly

This Biblical allusion dates from a time when glass was so cloudy that it obscured, rather than clarified, an image seen through it. It is a good metaphor for the value of the Metalingual speech function [as in, "What you talkin' 'bout, Willis?"]. In the "Dog Eat Dog" post, I presumed to "know" what the guy in the elevator really was talking about [which I called his "subtext," like the English translation at the bottom of an Ingmar Bergmann film]. It was just my guess, based on his "semiotics" [words, voice inflection, facial expressions and body language]. Figuring out what the other guy is actually trying to say is not rocket science--in fact some rocket scientists can't do it very well at all. The Austrian whose name is now associated with the "syndrome" of the interpersonally challenged [Asperger], called it "Severe Engineer's Brain."

Dogs [also cats, children, and "clairvoyants"] are naturals at discerning the other guy's subtext. The less fluent you are in the speaker's language, the more you pick up on other clues about the message. As a born quidnunc [literally, Latin for "What now?"]--known in other cultures as a Busybody, Nosey Parker, or yente--I have always loved to listen in on fellow travelers' conversations on public transport, as if trying to figure out the backstory of a movie already in progress, with extra points for "foreign language films." It has helped in my work with Paranoid Schizophrenics, who [dedicated readers will recall] use lots of Poetic speech, in order to make themselves obscure.

The way you "know" you have successfully "cracked the code" of a schizophrenic's obscure utterance, is to humbly [I try to channel Capt. Columbo, "Jeez, I'm just guessing here, but..."] offer a possible "translation" of their cryptic remark. If you're wrong, they smile enigmatically; but if you're right, stand by for mayhem. [I learned the hard way, to be closer to the door than my interlocutor, when "going for the whole phrase, Monty (or was it Vanna?)."] There's nothing a schizophrenic likes less than a clairvoyant, lemme tell ya. I put "know" in quotation marks, because no earthly soul can know for sure what another one really means--sometimes, not even the speaker.

So, how does it work with less obscure speakers, in everyday life? One option, which I took with the guy in the elevator, was to assume I caught what he was pitching, and respond to his [presumed] subtext, by replying [in my subtext], "Exercise is a non-zero-sum game, pally. Lighten up." If I didn't want to guess at his meaning, I could deploy my favorite Michigan response: "What's yer point?" [Unfortunately, the subtext of that remark is almost always hostile, so it's not great for elevator conversations.]

Whatever you would have said [including nowt], it is a skill worth practicing, to become a quick subtext reader and "writer." As we all know by now, I tend to favor the comic retort; but other options work just as well. To be continued in the next post...