Agalia Tan
David Crystal: the glamour of grammar
Where does grammar begin and end? You got to know where you want to go, and why you want to go there.
It’s not just about analysing sentences, it’s about communicatively understanding why the sentences are being used — from a semantic perspective, it’s about what the sentences mean, and from a pragmatic perspective, what’s the effect of using these sentences on other people. That’s when grammar goes out in the real world.
Events with Friends | Emotional Ergonomics & Designing for Feelings with Shuya Gong & Olivia Vagelos
from Information Nutrition by Jean Louis
"Social media doesn’t let us actually absorb the information we consume. We’re blasted with low-context content and given no time to reflect on what we’ve just consumed before the next video starts to play. Functionally, it’s the same as junk food – we absorb the message straight into our psyche without vetting it, contextualizing it or reflecting on what we just consumed.
I recently watched a TikTok summarizing an article that was summarizing a documentary that was summarizing a trial. While there was some insight in there, it’s worth pausing and asking if this information is strategically valuable to me or if it is just interesting. Am I actually educating myself or just entertaining myself? Is this rare information or insight that will help me cultivate a deeper, valuable understanding or is it actually “junk food” for my brain? I didn’t get the chance to ask myself these questions in the moment, I just scrolled to the next video – and therein lies the truth.
What we ought to do instead is chew our food. Take the time to process the information, ideas and concepts on our screens. Would we be better served to consume less but process it more? I think so.
Slowly is the fastest way to get where you want to be