[lit-ideas] Re: New Program in Psychoanalysis and Culture
- From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:54:28 +0900
On Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 5:22 AM, Paul Stone <pastone@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
You are confusing "wafting" (which is in fact a real word, but which
> has nothing to do with decision making) and "WAFFLING" which, unless
> you are making those crispy breakfast treats (or doing something
> really misogynistic and naughty -- look it up for yourself) DOES.
>
No confusion here. "Waft" = "to be driven or carried along, as by the air"
evokes the image of floating here and there. "Waffle," like "waver" imagines
a choice among options, the chooser being unable to make up his or her mind.
That is precisely why wafting from one proposition to another is a fair
description of brainstorming, in which the censor is turned off and the mind
allowed to flow freely, while waffling or wavering is associated with being
trapped.
Is brainstorming a part of decision-making? Depends on how narrow your
definition of decision-making is. Assume that the options are given and the
task is to choose only one from among them, and brainstorming, allowing
thoughts to waft here and there, is excluded. In many situations, however,
the options are not given; exploring, as business folk like to say, "outside
the box" becomes a vital part of decision-making, now construed in a broader
sense that includes looking for options as well as choosing among them.
Cheers,
John (who very much appreciates the poem about the blackbirds to which Eric
called our attention)
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
http://www.wordworks.jp/
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