An age of relativism and a deterioration in the grammatical and fundamental syntax of communication
Off Topic - Volume 1
i was torn between off topic and the human experience for this post that suddenly came to mind but decided that off topic made the most sense because its not about the human experience as i suspect is expected from the lens of physical therapy and the apta vision this post was inspired by a story from my wife about her colleague that is now teaching part time at a college she teaches freshman composition 1 since 1994 when my wife was a freshman composition 1 tutor the problems have gotten much worse because people spend so much time texting and tweeting often without punctuation or even capital letters to help others understand what they are communicating which are basic rules for grammar there is a tendency to not include them or to not know when or how to include them in writing one could say that such writing still communicates a message and that the rules of grammar are an unnecessary social convention a social construction that unduly limits the free exposition of someones ideas however i argue here that there is a very pragmatic aspect to the socially constructed grammar that these grammatical values provide a syntax that expedites the communications more complicated than a tweet or a text and that grammar and syntax are necessary syntax should not fall to the wayside with so many other values on the wave and tide of relativism that is so rampant these days if the device you are holding did not have software written with a code that followed very strict rules of syntax so that the computer could understand the code then you would not be able to read this post of course i believe my point has been made and if anyone had not believed in the pragmatic and absolute value of grammar prior to trying to read this post my thought is that you now do
having been privy to your teaching style and the off the cuff rants that come with it this post was engaging in a comically disruptive but all too familiar way i find that communication for getting the point across has migrated to punchy fast and jargon heavy statements who knows if this is as a result of the pace of life increasing the advent of the internet and technology or the communal anxiety and sympathetic nervous system drive that exists because we engage with more and more of that type of media getting people to stop and take a single deep breath or to breathe diaphragmatically for even a minute is often met with resistance rushing and rejection that it is even a useful activity in which they participate
clearly this post is funnier than tobacco spit not that i have any experience with tobacco spit yet the comparison does not seem entirely unwarranted though i suppose there is little doubt my wife would find the juxtaposition of the two images vulgar and abhorrent