Strategic Ambiguity: Power Through Obscurity

The thing about words is that the ones with confusing and ambiguous meanings that seem to make sense in any context tend to stick around for a long time. Never try to make people understand. What they understand, they analyze. And once they start analyzing, you will never be feared or admired. (Source: Hellbound, Season 2 Episode 4).

I wonder if this is the philosophy adopted in political rhetoric and public policy announcements. I am also curious that adopting such a philosophy in public talk is perhaps why double-talk or dialectic discourse is popular, especially in the academe. Plain talk is an anathema and should never be the goal in public conversation. This is the exact opposite of the principle adopted both in homiletics and biblical counseling. The goal is to communicate knowledge to achieve a desired end, which is personal change.

The first kind of talk creates a "god complex" to maintain a status hierarchy where language is used as a shield to protect the speaker, in which the statement could mean anything. The second kind utilizes language as a communication bridge, and that is why clarity and plain talk are a must.

Posted using SoMee