Sunday, November 05, 2006

Crapology: A psycholinguistic analysis of Crap

Chew, Sarah and Yuen, Justin (2006) Crapology: A psycholinguistic analysis of Crap. Melbourne: Lame Publishers Ltd.

JusTim邦 says:
why do we talk crap
JusTim邦 says:
is it genetic
sarah/suan mei says:
its cultural Crap differs across different sub-groups and cultures
sarah/suan mei says:
it is to create a sense of bonding and familiarity hence making it an in-group marker
sarah/suan mei says:
in order to fit in a social circle, one has to be competent in speaking the lingo of Crap in that group
sarah/suan mei says:
'Crap' occasionally has different terminology in youngsters today...sometimes called 'lame jokes' or it could be a generic term for many meanings, from 'alot of content' to 'non-useful bantering'
JusTim邦 says:
wow i guess yea cultural is one thing
JusTim邦 says:
but i think some people crap more than others
JusTim邦 says:
so i think there is still a genetic link
JusTim邦 says:
maybe there is a gene that makes a person more predisposed to crapping than say another person without it
JusTim邦 says:
and the predisposition to crapping can be affected by the cultural context in which the person grows up or lives a long time in
sarah/suan mei says:
the frequency of 'Crap' output also may differ according to variables such as mind alertness (inverse relationship), exposure to other Crappy people (linear relationship over time). The content of Crap, however, is greatly influenced by environmental factors such as exposure to film, books, family etc.
JusTim邦 says:
i think it might be exponential relationship over time in terms of the exposure to other Crappy people.
sarah/suan mei says:
ah true that
JusTim邦 says:
i think the cause of crap still lies in culture and genetics
JusTim邦 says:
both are valid factors
JusTim邦 says:
so the question now is
JusTim邦 says:
which one is more dominant factor
JusTim邦 says:
is it the cultural factors of exposure to like-minded people which cause so many people all over the world to succumb to this verbal nonsensical disorder
JusTim邦 says:
or is there something that is written in our code.
sarah/suan mei says:
well I believe the capacity for humour may be in some sense genetic...but 'Crap' is such a generic term and it means different things to different people--therefore already proving its cultural beginnings
JusTim邦 says:
you might be on to something there
JusTim邦 says:
cultural startpoint
JusTim邦 says:
without the culture of the group giving a pretext for Crapping, without it as a trigger to an otherwise dormant behaviour disorder, i guess it matters not whether a person is genetically predisposed to Crap or not
JusTim邦 says:
however, it stands to reason that for a person with a genetic predisposition, only a mild exposure to Crap culture can cause the person to burst out with Crap upon Crap in their spoken and written languages.
JusTim邦 says:
and for a person who is not predisposed, it may take longer, or there might not be any capability to Crap whatsoever
sarah/suan mei says:
hence from this intellectual discussion on the subject of 'Crapping'
sarah/suan mei says:
I now come to this one conclusion
sarah/suan mei says:
both of us are Crappy people