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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Every time we open our mouths, we unwittingly reveal our personalities.
If you overheard a conversation on a bus, do you think you could tell from the words that were used and the topics discussed, the personality of the people who were chatting? What about if I showed you a short story? Could you glean something about the character of the author from their language?
We're often reminded "choose your words carefully" – well it turns out the words themselves may reveal far more than what we're actually trying to say. There's mounting evidence that our personality is written, quite literally, in the language that we use, from the tweets we send to our choice of email address.
Not all findings are particularly surprising. Those who score highly on extroversion really are a lot louder and chattier than their more introverted peers. They also tend to speak more quickly. Female extroverts, but not males, are more likely to have group chats, while introvert men (but not women) spend more time talking to themselves.
But introverts and extroverts also use language very differently. A few years ago, a group of researchers led by Camiel Beukeboom at VU University, Amsterdam, asked a group of 40 volunteers to look at photos of different social situations and describe out loud what was going on. They found that extroverts' language tended to be more abstract and "loose", while introverts spoke in more concrete terms. In other words, introverts tend to be a lot more specific.
Extroverts say: "This article is excellent"
Introverts say: "This article is very informative"
In line with this, other research has found that introverts tend to use more articles (the/a) – which, by definition, refer to individual objects or events. They also tend to be more cautious in their language: that is, they use more hedging (perhaps, maybe), and more quantifiable terms, such as referring to specific numbers.
Extroverts say: "Let's get some food"
Introverts say: "Perhaps we could go for a sandwich"
All of this makes psychological sense. Most extroverts enjoy the fast life, being more likely to drink, sleep around and take risks than introverts; every time they open their mouths, too, extroverts are prepared to take greater risks with the accuracy, spontaneity and reach of what they say.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mcgrew on Sunday July 23 2017, @07:31PM (9 children)
What about if I showed you a short story? Could you glean something about the character of the author from their language?
No. I write far differently than I speak, and how I talk depends on who I'm talking to. When I'm in the company of educated people I watch my manners of speech. When I'm with a bunch of drunken rednecks my speech is quite different. When I'm writing, often I'll sit at the computer for fifteen minutes trying to choose a better word.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 3, Touché) by frojack on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:50PM (6 children)
Not here you don't.
Your posts often explore the relationship between postmodern discourse and unwanted gifts.
With influences as diverse as Rousseau and Buckminster Fuller, new tensions are distilled from both orderly and random layers.
Ever since your first post I have been fascinated by the unrelenting divergence of relationships. What starts out as contemplation soon becomes corroded into a hegemony of power, leaving only a sense of failing and the chance of a new reality. As intermittent replicas become clarified through emergent and diverse practice, the viewer is left with a clue to the edges of our culture.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @08:59PM (4 children)
OK, so which mod point are you gunning for? Funny? Insightful? Interesting? I'm stumped!
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:12PM (2 children)
Frojack, +1 frojack. But he did not cite the Postmodernist Random Prose Generator he used, so, it's a wash.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday July 24 2017, @01:43AM (1 child)
Bingo. Give that giu a cupiedoll. It actually wasn't that one, there seem to be quite a few of them. And many are using the same technique and the same code base.
There are other such generators where you can feed in a paragraph and get a masked paragraph back.
http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/brainiac/2013/08/if_you_passed_n.html [boston.com]
Also here: http://www.i-programmer.info/news/105-artificial-intelligence/6197-anonymouth-hides-identity.html [i-programmer.info]
Do these tools make aristarchus less of of a stalker? I'm guessing not.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Monday July 24 2017, @08:40AM
I have a list with your user name on it, frojack! With it, I can track whenever you post, what ever you do on SoylentNews! MuHahahaha! It's called a "Friend list", you are on mine, froj! But, stalking? Hey, dude, you're just a friend, and I cannot tell that much about you from your use of language. You do have stupid right-wing opinions (sorry for the redundancy) a lot, and you are the smoothest climate change denier around. But my admiration for you stops there. Sorry, if this hurts your feelings.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:12PM
Not every comment is gunning for mod points.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @09:43PM
You are Charles Emerson Winchester III and I claim my $5.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday July 23 2017, @10:03PM
How I talk depends who I'm talking to. When I'm in the company of Whites, I watch my manners of speech. When I'm with a bunch of intoxicated Blacks, I use the words "Yo" and "Sheeeit" as commas while sipping on Carlo Rossi [seriouseats.com] wine. When I'm with a bunch of Mexicans I say "ese" and speak Spanglish 5 times faster than English is spoken.
The biggest part of such adaptations are the skillful avoidance of faux pas. For example, the Spanish word "Cabron" is a playful ribbing for young Mexicans, but for older Mexicans, it means literally "I fucked your wife" and they will try to stab you even if they were okay with you using other curse words to apply to them. Likewise, even though Blacks call each other the word "nigga," the word is best left avoided by outsiders. Official US Army rules are such that it is okay for non-Blacks to call Blacks "nigga" but never "nigger."
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Monday July 24 2017, @02:18PM
Here, here!