[Hans Blom, 951024c]
(Bill Powers (951022.1100 MDT))
"Reference level" and "control of perception" are not jargon terms.
No? Try using them at a cocktail party with an audience unfamiliar
with PCT...
The term "jargon" has no negative connotations for me. Jargon is a
language that professionals use amongst them to talk about their area
of expertise. Jargon words are pointers to pre-existing knowledge,
which compactly carry meaning across. A physician could use the word
"emphysema" with a colleage and know that he wouldn't have to explain
what it is, when and where it can occur and how harmful it can be.
The same physician probably would not use the same word in the same
way with an unsuspecting patient.
They are defineable so as to link with the larger body of language.
Sure. Except for the small set of "basic" words that can only be
"explained" by demonstration / pointing, all other words can be
defined in terms of other words. As such, a word mostly has the
function much like a file name that we can refer to, rather than
having to reiterate the complete contents of the file time and again.
But the word has "meaning" only if we know to which file contents it
refers. If one of the communicators somehow has a connotation with a
different file, we have a serious misunderstanding indeed.
"Reference" is used in the sense of a reference mark, something with
respect to which something else is measured. "Level" is used in the
sense of "amount," as in "water level" or "sound level". A reference
level of a variable is that measure of the variable with respect to
which we measure the actual value -- a reference point on a scale of
values.
_I_ understand what you say here. Try saying this exact same thing at
a cocktail party and see what happens...
A term like "imprinting" also links to the larger body of language,
but in a misleading way that is not meant to be taken literally.
What do you mean by "taking a term literally"? Can I take terms like
chair, car, walking literally? How about control, perception, love,
behavior?
Greetings,
Hans