The layman vs the professional

RichL · 09-20-2011, 05:38 AM

Many arguments seem to boil down to the layman not knowing that a particular word can have one meaning in general conversation and a different though similar meaning within the context of a particular discipline.

To get to the meat of it, I wonder how many of these argument are because someone reads an article in Nature, a book like "A Brief History of Time" or, worst of all, they make a quick scan of a Wiki article (without reading the foot notes and related articles) then decide they know what they are talking about even though they have misunderstood half of what written because they misunderstand the meaning of a word or words within the context of the discipline they are reading about.

crich70 · 09-20-2011, 04:21 PM

I think it is also sometimes a matter of familiarity with language. I mean if something was originally written in say French and someone is depending on an English translation of what was originally written. The Bible is a book in which this is evident. The New Testament was written in Greek and when it was translated to English sometimes two different though simiar words in Greek are given as the same word in English though the meanings of the two words were slightly different from each other. So it's not always the fault of the reader of a text that they don't understand something properly but the fault of the person who wrote the text (translated and/or typed in). Though I do agree that some people do read just a bit about a given subject and then act as if they know all about it when in fact they have barely scratched the surface of the topic in question.

RichL · 09-21-2011, 04:20 AM

Hadn't thought of the translation problem but can see where that might indeed be a problem at times. Also, till now, hadn't considered how much culture can get into the act. Even even such more or less mundane words as 'friend' or 'police officer' can have wildly different meanings to people depending on where they are from.

crich70 · 09-21-2011, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichL

Hadn't thought of the translation problem but can see where that might indeed be a problem at times. Also, till now, hadn't considered how much culture can get into the act. Even even such more or less mundane words as 'friend' or 'police officer' can have wildly different meanings to people depending on where they are from.

And it's not just the spoken word that can differ either. Recently I met a couple going to Brazil (missionaries) and they have to learn sign language since some people there are deaf. The funny thing is that they have a different sign language down there than we do in the U.S. And there is also the famous error that Nixon made when in China. He make the OK sign with the fingers of both hands. The problem was that in China our OK gesture is the same as the 1 finger salute if you get my drift. So he accidentally gave insult without meaning to. And I imagine that there can be a misunderstanding between two people in how what one person does is perceived by the other and vice versa. So someone might appear to be over confident and seem to be putting on the air of "I know x amount about (topic)" and really not be.

09-20-2011, 05:38 AM	#1
RichL Evangelist Posts: 407 Karma: 1096520 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: back to x51v	The layman vs the professional Many arguments seem to boil down to the layman not knowing that a particular word can have one meaning in general conversation and a different though similar meaning within the context of a particular discipline. To get to the meat of it, I wonder how many of these argument are because someone reads an article in Nature, a book like "A Brief History of Time" or, worst of all, they make a quick scan of a Wiki article (without reading the foot notes and related articles) then decide they know what they are talking about even though they have misunderstood half of what written because they misunderstand the meaning of a word or words within the context of the discipline they are reading about.

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09-20-2011, 04:21 PM	#2
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,310 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	I think it is also sometimes a matter of familiarity with language. I mean if something was originally written in say French and someone is depending on an English translation of what was originally written. The Bible is a book in which this is evident. The New Testament was written in Greek and when it was translated to English sometimes two different though simiar words in Greek are given as the same word in English though the meanings of the two words were slightly different from each other. So it's not always the fault of the reader of a text that they don't understand something properly but the fault of the person who wrote the text (translated and/or typed in). Though I do agree that some people do read just a bit about a given subject and then act as if they know all about it when in fact they have barely scratched the surface of the topic in question.

09-21-2011, 04:20 AM	#3
RichL Evangelist Posts: 407 Karma: 1096520 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: back to x51v	Hadn't thought of the translation problem but can see where that might indeed be a problem at times. Also, till now, hadn't considered how much culture can get into the act. Even even such more or less mundane words as 'friend' or 'police officer' can have wildly different meanings to people depending on where they are from.

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