Where do you get your ideas? The question presumes instrumentality and exchange, as if you could take a trip to your favourite high street shop and come home with the best ideas you can afford. That same sort of instrumentality comes into play when we think of language as a tool, a means by which we communicate information or express our needs and desires. In this episode we explore a new way of thinking about language and ideas:  Ideas emerge from empty space. Language organises that space to form selves. Selves are the spaces from which new ideas emerge.  Are these selves conscious? Better to say that the whole space is conscious, the space is consciousness itself. When language shapes space to create selves, it bequeaths them with a strange gift: the capacity not to know. The capacity to be unconscious. The capacity to be separated from the vast space of consciousness we’re swimming in. Complex stuff! We may need some help from quantum physics (and a bit of liminal space) to open ourselves to these ideas. The books I mention in this episode are Brian Greene’s The Elegant Universe and Amit Goswami’s  The Self-Aware Universe. The stories I mention, ‘YES/YES’ and ‘The woodcarver’, are available on grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com. Take my free course, ‘Writing through the Lens of Language’, to explore the experiential aspects of ‘inhabiting language’ in more detail: bit.ly/lensoflanguage Join my Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark Follow me on Instagram @grammarfordreamers, Facebook www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/ or Twitter @jodieclarkling Subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

Where do you get your ideas? The question presumes instrumentality and exchange, as if you could take a trip to your favourite high street shop and come home with the best ideas you can afford. That same sort of instrumentality comes into play when we think of language as a tool, a means by which we communicate information or express our needs and desires. In this episode we explore a new way of thinking about language and ideas: <ul> <li>Ideas emerge from empty space.</li> <li>Language organises that space to form selves.</li> <li>Selves are the spaces from which new ideas emerge.</li> </ul> Are these selves conscious? Better to say that the whole space is conscious, the space is consciousness itself. When language shapes space to create selves, it bequeaths them with a strange gift: the capacity not to know. The capacity to be unconscious. The capacity to be separated from the vast space of consciousness we’re swimming in. Complex stuff! We may need some help from quantum physics (and a bit of liminal space) to open ourselves to these ideas. The books I mention in this episode are Brian Greene’s <a href="http://www.briangreene.org/the-elegant-universe/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Elegant Universe</a> and Amit Goswami’s <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Aware-Universe-Consciousness-Creates-Material/dp/0874777984" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> The Self-Aware Universe</a>. The stories I mention, ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2022/06/09/yes-yes/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">YES/YES</a>’ and ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2022/06/23/the-woodcarver/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The woodcarver</a>’, are available on <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com</a>. Take my free course, ‘Writing through the Lens of Language’, to explore the experiential aspects of ‘inhabiting language’ in more detail: <a href="http://bit.ly/lensoflanguage" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bit.ly/lensoflanguage</a> Join my Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark</a> Follow me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>, Facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/</a> or Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/jodieclarkling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@jodieclarkling</a> Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1577481686" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

Episode 76 Quantum linguistics

What’s your relationship to religion? This could be a tricky question, for lots of reasons. People may not understand your faith. People may not understand how your faith is connected to your culture. People may not understand why you aren’t part of a religion. Maybe your experiences of religion have been traumatic in some way. To make this topic a little more light-hearted, it might be best to start with a different question. What’s your most embarrassing religious moment? Here’s mine: I accidentally became a born-again Christian at the age of 12. In this episode we explore my hapless conversion in more detail. We gain some perspective from a book called The elementary forms of religious life, written by French sociologist Emile Durkheim. In Durkheim’s analysis of what’s at the root of all religions, he draws these conclusions:  When people worship, they’re connecting with something bigger than themselves This ‘bigger thing’ is society Without society people would not experience themselves as people; they’d have no sense of who they were in the world  These conclusions are a little hard to swallow, particularly because we live in a moment where we’re right to be critical of society and the roles it establishes for us. Especially as these roles are carved out of endemic structural injustices. But why do human beings need to actively connect with something bigger than themselves? It seems to me we’re already connected to something bigger than us—the natural world. When I imagine the natural world as a conscious entity—and it’s one of the themes I love to explore in my fiction—it makes me feel like I am already part of a bigger picture. This is true for me even though I feel separate from the natural world, even though I feel my experience is limited by the constraints of my language and my society. The idea I most like to play with in my fiction is that the human experience of separation from the natural world is not a flaw, but a design principle. I explore this notion in most recent story, ‘First words’, which is available on my Grammar for Dreamers blog grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com. I intended the ‘Seer’ character to be an agent of the natural world, creating language to produce the experience of separation, the concept of the self. The idea is that those of us who believe we inhabit selves (e.g. human beings!) are the routes by which the Earth itself experiences new ideas.   Intrigued? Would you like some more ideas about on how to tap into these insights on language and the self? Check out my free course, ‘Writing through the Lens of Language’: bit.ly/lensoflanguage Join my Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark Follow me on Instagram @grammarfordreamers, Facebook www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/ or Twitter @jodieclarkling Subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

What’s your relationship to religion? This could be a tricky question, for lots of reasons. People may not understand your faith. People may not understand how your faith is connected to your culture. People may not understand why you aren’t part of a religion. Maybe your experiences of religion have been traumatic in some way. To make this topic a little more light-hearted, it might be best to start with a different question. What’s your most embarrassing religious moment? Here’s mine: I accidentally became a born-again Christian at the age of 12. In this episode we explore my hapless conversion in more detail. We gain some perspective from a book called The elementary forms of religious life, written by French sociologist Emile Durkheim. In Durkheim’s analysis of what’s at the root of all religions, he draws these conclusions: <ul> <li>When people worship, they’re connecting with something bigger than themselves</li> <li>This ‘bigger thing’ is society</li> <li>Without society people would not experience themselves as people; they’d have no sense of who they were in the world</li> </ul> These conclusions are a little hard to swallow, particularly because we live in a moment where we’re right to be critical of society and the roles it establishes for us. Especially as these roles are carved out of endemic structural injustices. But why do human beings need to actively connect with something bigger than themselves? It seems to me we’re already connected to something bigger than us—the natural world. When I imagine the natural world as a conscious entity—and it’s one of the themes I love to explore in my fiction—it makes me feel like I am already part of a bigger picture. This is true for me even though I feel separate from the natural world, even though I feel my experience is limited by the constraints of my language and my society. The idea I most like to play with in my fiction is that the human experience of separation from the natural world is not a flaw, but a design principle. I explore this notion in most recent story, ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2022/05/19/first-words/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">First words</a>’, which is available on my Grammar for Dreamers blog <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com</a>. I intended the ‘Seer’ character to be an agent of the natural world, creating language to produce the experience of separation, the concept of the self. The idea is that those of us who believe we inhabit selves (e.g. human beings!) are the routes by which the Earth itself experiences new ideas. Intrigued? Would you like some more ideas about on how to tap into these insights on language and the self? Check out my free course, ‘Writing through the Lens of Language’: <a href="http://bit.ly/lensoflanguage" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bit.ly/lensoflanguage</a> Join my Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark</a> Follow me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>, Facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/</a> or Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/jodieclarkling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@jodieclarkling</a> Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1577481686" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

Episode 75 Accidentally born again

Is there anyone in your life who truly ‘gets’ you? What’s your favourite fairy tale? Have you ever received guidance from a wiser, more loving version of yourself? Believe it or not, there is a connection between all these questions. The first question came into the foreground for me when I first moved to Britain to do my PhD and was regularly doling out guidance to my student housemates. One of them was convinced that I ‘got’ her in a way her boyfriend didn’t. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I don’t think anyone ever truly ‘gets’ anyone else. Clearly ‘getting’ someone means to ‘understand’ them, but in the same way that you ‘get’ the punchline of a joke. To get a joke means that you have access to all the assumptions on which the joke is based. (In linguistics these are called implicatures.) But jokes are simple, and people are vast and complex. And you are not a joke. You are nothing less than a wild, mad-cap, unsolvable mystery. By definition, ungettable. But that doesn’t stop us from longing to be seen, understood, to feel held, to resonate with someone. To experience that beautiful sense of freedom that comes from not having to explain yourself. I believe that this longing, this loneliness, is part of the human condition, and I believe that what causes it is language. To illustrate this point, I’ve rewritten my favourite fairy tale, Rapunzel, in a story called ‘Longing’ (which is available on my Grammar for Dreamers blog grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com). According to my version of the story, the Earth once had a longing that only the Sorceress, Language, could fulfil. What could the Earth possibly long for? The natural world is governed by interconnection and symbiosis. How could it possibly be lonely? What if the Earth longs for longing itself? What if the Earth longs to experience the separateness that can only be experienced by a distinct, isolated self? In my version of the Rapunzel story, I have the Earth abandon one of its beloved creatures (human beings) to the one magical being that could provide that (language). Language creates the self. What the self creates is, precisely, nothing. If we see the self as a membrane (another of my favourite images), and when we look courageously at what’s inside that membrane, we see... nothing Nothing we can grasp, nothing we can ‘get’, nothing fathomable. Just a miraculously fertile void from which new ideas can emerge. And when those new ideas emerge, we are in the privileged position of seeing them as other. Like a magical doll in a fairy tale, or a wiser, more compassionate version of ourselves. The Self and the Other allow us to experience mystery. And through us, the Earth can experience mystery as well.   Check out my free course, ‘Writing through the Lens of Language’: bit.ly/lensoflanguage Join my Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark Follow me on Instagram @grammarfordreamers, Facebook www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/ or Twitter @jodieclarkling Subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

Is there anyone in your life who truly ‘gets’ you? What’s your favourite fairy tale? Have you ever received guidance from a wiser, more loving version of yourself? Believe it or not, there is a connection between all these questions. The first question came into the foreground for me when I first moved to Britain to do my PhD and was regularly doling out guidance to my student housemates. One of them was convinced that I ‘got’ her in a way her boyfriend didn’t. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I don’t think anyone ever truly ‘gets’ anyone else. Clearly ‘getting’ someone means to ‘understand’ them, but in the same way that you ‘get’ the punchline of a joke. To get a joke means that you have access to all the assumptions on which the joke is based. (In linguistics these are called implicatures.) But jokes are simple, and people are vast and complex. And you are not a joke. You are nothing less than a wild, mad-cap, unsolvable mystery. By definition, ungettable. But that doesn’t stop us from longing to be seen, understood, to feel held, to resonate with someone. To experience that beautiful sense of freedom that comes from not having to explain yourself. I believe that this longing, this loneliness, is part of the human condition, and I believe that what causes it is language. To illustrate this point, I’ve rewritten my favourite fairy tale, Rapunzel, in a story called ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2022/04/19/longing/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Longing</a>’ (which is available on my Grammar for Dreamers blog <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com</a>). According to my version of the story, the Earth once had a longing that only the Sorceress, Language, could fulfil. What could the Earth possibly long for? The natural world is governed by interconnection and symbiosis. How could it possibly be lonely? What if the Earth longs for longing itself? What if the Earth longs to experience the separateness that can only be experienced by a distinct, isolated self? In my version of the Rapunzel story, I have the Earth abandon one of its beloved creatures (human beings) to the one magical being that could provide that (language). Language creates the self. What the self creates is, precisely, nothing. If we see the self as a membrane (another of my favourite images), and when we look courageously at what’s inside that membrane, we see... nothing Nothing we can grasp, nothing we can ‘get’, nothing fathomable. Just a miraculously fertile void from which new ideas can emerge. And when those new ideas emerge, we are in the privileged position of seeing them as other. Like a magical doll in a fairy tale, or a wiser, more compassionate version of ourselves. The Self and the Other allow us to experience mystery. And through us, the Earth can experience mystery as well. Check out my free course, ‘Writing through the Lens of Language’: <a href="http://bit.ly/lensoflanguage" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bit.ly/lensoflanguage</a> Join my Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark</a> Follow me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>, Facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/</a> or Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/jodieclarkling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@jodieclarkling</a> Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1577481686" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

Episode 74 Create nothing

How is language like water? Both are all around us. Both are within us. Both have fascinating structuring mechanisms that we may not know much about. Think about the structure of a water molecule. Its single oxygen atom has a slightly negative charge, and the two hydrogen atoms have a slightly positive charge. The opposite charges attract water molecules to each other (the positive side of one molecule is drawn to the negative side of another). These weak attractive forces are called ‘hydrogen bonds’, and they make it possible for water to remain a liquid at room temperature, which in turn allows life to exist on Earth. In this episode we explore the possibility that human language has a structuring quality, like the structuring mechanisms in the natural world. If the qualities of water are shaped by hydrogen bonds, what shapes the structure of human language? I believe that the structuring principle of human language is selfhood. We’re getting better at recognising the oppressive structures of our society, like structural racism, patriarchal systems, colonialism, cisheteronormativity, neurotypicality and ableism (to name a few). But we might also take some time to acknowledge a more dynamic structuring principle: the self. Formed and re-formed by language, it dissolves and is produced anew in each moment. The self shapes itself like a membrane around spaces from which new experiences can emerge. The challenge is to recognise the power of the dynamic structure of the self formed by language. The mission is to honour it, in ourselves and each other. Curious about how linguists can find out what pre-verbal babies know about linguistic structure? Watch this great video on The Ling Space. The story I discuss in this episode, ‘No and the ark’ is available on my Grammar for Dreamers blog: grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com Check out my free course, ‘Writing through the Lens of Language’: bit.ly/lensoflanguage Join my Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark Follow me on Instagram @grammarfordreamers, Facebook www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/ or Twitter @jodieclarkling Subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

How is language like water? Both are all around us. Both are within us. Both have fascinating structuring mechanisms that we may not know much about. Think about the structure of a water molecule. Its single oxygen atom has a slightly negative charge, and the two hydrogen atoms have a slightly positive charge. The opposite charges attract water molecules to each other (the positive side of one molecule is drawn to the negative side of another). These weak attractive forces are called ‘hydrogen bonds’, and they make it possible for water to remain a liquid at room temperature, which in turn allows life to exist on Earth. In this episode we explore the possibility that human language has a structuring quality, like the structuring mechanisms in the natural world. If the qualities of water are shaped by hydrogen bonds, what shapes the structure of human language? I believe that the structuring principle of human language is selfhood. We’re getting better at recognising the oppressive structures of our society, like structural racism, patriarchal systems, colonialism, cisheteronormativity, neurotypicality and ableism (to name a few). But we might also take some time to acknowledge a more dynamic structuring principle: the self. Formed and re-formed by language, it dissolves and is produced anew in each moment. The self shapes itself like a membrane around spaces from which new experiences can emerge. The challenge is to recognise the power of the dynamic structure of the self formed by language. The mission is to honour it, in ourselves and each other. Curious about how linguists can find out what pre-verbal babies know about linguistic structure? Watch <a href="http://www.thelingspace.com/episode-16" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this great video on The Ling Space</a>. The story I discuss in this episode, ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2022/03/22/no-and-the-ark/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">No and the ark</a>’ is available on my Grammar for Dreamers blog: <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com</a> Check out my free course, ‘Writing through the Lens of Language’: <a href="http://bit.ly/lensoflanguage" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bit.ly/lensoflanguage</a> Join my Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark</a> Follow me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>, Facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/</a> or Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/jodieclarkling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@jodieclarkling</a> Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1577481686" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

Episode 73 The structure of selfhood

Have you ever entertained an apocalypse fantasy? The one I invented relieves humanity of its language. Language produces selves, which is not a bad thing. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s the window to intimacy. But what happens when the amount of language we use increases to the extent that we’ve seen in recent years? The production of selves increases to potentially catastrophic proportions. Here’s the link to Dr Debbie Reese’s excellent critique of Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins:  https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2016/06/a-critical-look-at-odells-island-of.html The book that inspired my fascination with mycelium is Paul Stamets’s  Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Save the World. The stories I discuss in this episode, ‘Finite’ and ‘A remarkable outcome’ are both available on my Grammar for Dreamers blog: grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com Check out my free course, ‘Writing through the Lens of Language’: bit.ly/lensoflanguage Join my freshly minted Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark Follow me on Instagram @grammarfordreamers, Facebook www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/ or Twitter @jodieclarkling Subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

Have you ever entertained an apocalypse fantasy? The one I invented relieves humanity of its language. Language produces selves, which is not a bad thing. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s the window to intimacy. But what happens when the amount of language we use increases to the extent that we’ve seen in recent years? The production of selves increases to potentially catastrophic proportions. Here’s the link to Dr Debbie Reese’s excellent critique of Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue Dolphins: <a href="https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2016/06/a-critical-look-at-odells-island-of.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2016/06/a-critical-look-at-odells-island-of.html</a> The book that inspired my fascination with mycelium is Paul Stamets’s <a href="https://fungi.com/collections/books-by-paul-stamets/products/mycelium-running" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Save the World</a>. The stories I discuss in this episode, ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2022/02/09/finite/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Finite</a>’ and ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2022/02/17/a-remarkable-outcome/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A remarkable outcome</a>’ are both available on my Grammar for Dreamers blog: <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com</a> Check out my free course, ‘Writing through the Lens of Language’: <a href="http://bit.ly/lensoflanguage" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bit.ly/lensoflanguage</a> Join my freshly minted Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark</a> Follow me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>, Facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/</a> or Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/jodieclarkling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@jodieclarkling</a> Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1577481686" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

Episode 72 Apocalypse fantasies

Ferdinand de Saussure likened language to a collective treasure that every member of the linguistic community can draw from without its stores diminishing. This idea is quite heartening – almost magical – but it’s also ruthlessly oppressive. What do you want first: the good news or the bad news? The story I discuss in this episode is ‘A day at the lake’. Check out my free course,  Writing through the Lens of Language, designed especially for you: http://bit.ly/lensoflanguage Join my freshly minted Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark Follow me on Instagram @grammarfordreamers, Facebook www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/ or Twitter @jodieclarkling Subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

Ferdinand de Saussure likened language to a collective treasure that every member of the linguistic community can draw from without its stores diminishing. This idea is quite heartening – almost magical – but it’s also ruthlessly oppressive. What do you want first: the good news or the bad news? The story I discuss in this episode is ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2022/01/24/a-day-at-the-lake/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A day at the lake</a>’. Check out my free course, <a href="https://mailchi.mp/074f9ede7221/writing-through-the-lens-of-language" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Writing through the Lens of Language</a>, designed especially for you: <a href="http://bit.ly/lensoflanguage" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/lensoflanguage</a> Join my freshly minted Patreon community for more linguistic inspiration: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/jodieclark</a> Follow me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>, Facebook <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/</a> or Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/jodieclarkling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@jodieclarkling</a> Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1577481686" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends!

Episode 71 Good news and bad news

Happy New Year! The end of the year is a great time for reflection. Why not reflect upon the meaning of life? Or, even better, why not reflect on why we would think there is a meaning to life, and what type of meaning we expect to find (meaning itself has lots of meanings, as linguist John Lyons points out), and what we’re assuming about life when we ask what it means. Are we asking about the meaning of human life only? If so, are we thinking of human life in terms of a narrative, so the ‘meaning of life’ becomes something like the ‘moral of the story’? What if we thought about meaning of life from a biological perspective? David Deamer, a biologist who explores the origin of life, gives this definition: ‘Life is an evolving system of polymers synthesized by chemical reactions (metabolism) that take place in membrane-bounded compartments called cells’ (2011, p. 3). The image we have here is not one life, with one story and one meaning. Instead it’s a proliferation of discrete compartments – cells, surrounded by membranes, each containing its own unique strand of genetic information – in other words, strands of communicable meanings. If you’ve been listening to this podcast, you know I’m fascinated by the idea that the information contained in these membrane-bound compartments... indeed, that the membranes themselves, are a form of language. This perspective would present human language as nothing more or less than a means for the Earth to produce new forms of membrane-bound compartments, with new forms of information within. Human language creates the self, which serves as a membrane, that requires us to feel separate, divided, broken. But it also offers us the experience uniqueness, individuality and the rare pleasure of co-creating something new, something meaningful, something that reconnects us to everything we once felt separate from. Here’s a New Year’s resolution: rather than spending time trying to find out the meaning of life, let’s celebrate how we each individually contribute to life’s multitude of meanings. The story I discuss in this episode is ‘The Mosaic Makers’. Works cited: Deamer, D. (2011) First life: discovering the connections between stars, cells, and how life began. Berkeley: University of California Press. Lessing, D. (1979). Shikasta. New York: Knopf. Lyons, J. (1977). Semantics, vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.   Thanks to the curious, intelligent, creative community who listen to this podcast. I have exciting new things in store for you. Stay tuned to future episodes to find out more. Subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends! Or connect with me in one or more of the following ways: Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay). Follow me on Instagram @grammarfordreamers, Facebook www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/ or Twitter @jodieclarkling

Happy New Year! The end of the year is a great time for reflection. Why not reflect upon the meaning of life? Or, even better, why not reflect on why we would think there is a meaning to life, and what type of meaning we expect to find (meaning itself has lots of meanings, as linguist John Lyons points out), and what we’re assuming about life when we ask what it means. Are we asking about the meaning of human life only? If so, are we thinking of human life in terms of a narrative, so the ‘meaning of life’ becomes something like the ‘moral of the story’? What if we thought about meaning of life from a biological perspective? David Deamer, a biologist who explores the origin of life, gives this definition: ‘Life is an evolving system of polymers synthesized by chemical reactions (metabolism) that take place in membrane-bounded compartments called cells’ (2011, p. 3). The image we have here is not one life, with one story and one meaning. Instead it’s a proliferation of discrete compartments – cells, surrounded by membranes, each containing its own unique strand of genetic information – in other words, strands of communicable meanings. If you’ve been listening to this podcast, you know I’m fascinated by the idea that the information contained in these membrane-bound compartments... indeed, that the membranes themselves, are a form of language. This perspective would present human language as nothing more or less than a means for the Earth to produce new forms of membrane-bound compartments, with new forms of information within. Human language creates the self, which serves as a membrane, that requires us to feel separate, divided, broken. But it also offers us the experience uniqueness, individuality and the rare pleasure of co-creating something new, something meaningful, something that reconnects us to everything we once felt separate from. Here’s a New Year’s resolution: rather than spending time trying to find out the meaning of life, let’s celebrate how we each individually contribute to life’s multitude of meanings. The story I discuss in this episode is ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2021/12/22/the-mosaic-makers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Mosaic Makers</a>’. Works cited: Deamer, D. (2011) First life: discovering the connections between stars, cells, and how life began. Berkeley: University of California Press. Lessing, D. (1979). Shikasta. New York: Knopf. Lyons, J. (1977). Semantics, vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Thanks to the curious, intelligent, creative community who listen to this podcast. I have exciting new things in store for you. Stay tuned to future episodes to find out more. Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1577481686" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or wherever you like to listen. Rate, review, tell your friends! Or connect with me in one or more of the following ways: <a href="http://eepurl.com/huKgbf" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter</a> (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay). Follow me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>, Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/</a> or Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/JodieClarkLing" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@jodieclarkling</a>

Episode 70 The meanings of life

‘It’s easy to forget,’ said  Sir David Attenborough in his address to COP26, ‘that ultimately the emergency climate comes down to a single number — the concentration of carbon in our atmosphere.’ That one number, he goes on to say, ‘defines our relationship with our world.’ According to Attenborough’s framing, the story is a mathematical problem, with a mathematical solution. But how often, in your experience, are relationship problems genuinely reducible to mathematical equations? How often are they genuinely ‘solved’ by a number? I’ve often said that my creative and academic work are inspired by ‘the intimacy embedded in the structure of language.’ Intimacy requires selves, and selves are generated by language, by the stories we tell. Stories about the environmental crisis usually construct two distinct selves: us and the Earth. In this episode we recognise that the relationship between us and the Earth would benefit from some couples therapy. In therapy it might be revealed that the thing that separates us from the Earth is language – the capacity to create and inhabit other worlds – fantasy, parallel existences – that keep us from putting any attention to our partner, the Earth. Language is a boundary that keeps the human species detached from the Earth. But the thing that separates us does not have to be a boundary. It could be a membrane. Language may be unique to humans, but membranes are universal to all forms of life. Let’s explore the possibility that language is Earth’s newest form of membrane, one that creates spaces from which new ideas can emerge. The story I discuss in this episode is ‘The Great Reversal.’ Many thanks to Dr Samantha Kies-Ryan for her work on storytelling and water management in the Solomon Islands. For additional content: Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay). To watch my regularly posted videos of linguistic geekery, follow me on Instagram @grammarfordreamers or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/ Are you enjoying these episodes? Would you like to hear more? Subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen.

‘It’s easy to forget,’ said <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-02/david-attenborough-speech-at-cop26-glasgow/100586992" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Sir David Attenborough in his address to COP26</a>, ‘that ultimately the emergency climate comes down to a single number — the concentration of carbon in our atmosphere.’ That one number, he goes on to say, ‘defines our relationship with our world.’ According to Attenborough’s framing, the story is a mathematical problem, with a mathematical solution. But how often, in your experience, are relationship problems genuinely reducible to mathematical equations? How often are they genuinely ‘solved’ by a number? I’ve often said that my creative and academic work are inspired by ‘the intimacy embedded in the structure of language.’ Intimacy requires selves, and selves are generated by language, by the stories we tell. Stories about the environmental crisis usually construct two distinct selves: us and the Earth. In this episode we recognise that the relationship between us and the Earth would benefit from some couples therapy. In therapy it might be revealed that the thing that separates us from the Earth is language – the capacity to create and inhabit other worlds – fantasy, parallel existences – that keep us from putting any attention to our partner, the Earth. Language is a boundary that keeps the human species detached from the Earth. But the thing that separates us does not have to be a boundary. It could be a membrane. Language may be unique to humans, but membranes are universal to all forms of life. Let’s explore the possibility that language is Earth’s newest form of membrane, one that creates spaces from which new ideas can emerge. The story I discuss in this episode is ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2021/11/17/the-great-reversal/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Great Reversal</a>.’ Many thanks to <a href="https://www.earthwaterpeople.com/community-cultural-engagement" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr Samantha Kies-Ryan for her work on storytelling and water management in the Solomon Islands</a>. For additional content: <a href="http://eepurl.com/huKgbf" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter</a> (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay). To watch my regularly posted videos of linguistic geekery, follow me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a> or on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/</a> Are you enjoying these episodes? Would you like to hear more? Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1577481686" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or wherever you like to listen.

Episode 69 Our relationship with our world

In this episode we’re going to address three questions. What’s a word? What was did it feel like when life first emerged on the Earth? When’s the first (or the last) time you made a real decision? And I’m going to try to convince you that these questions all have something to do with each other. I believe that thinking about words will give us a bit of insight about what it was like when life first emerged on the Earth. These two things – life and language – for me share two qualities: that they’re both incredibly commonplace, and they’re both overwhelmingly mysterious. Also, both require boundary making, whether that takes the form of a cell membrane (life) or a self membrane (language). These boundaries cultivate a space in which new ideas can land. For more about membranes and the origins of life, read Pier Luigi Luisi’s  The emergence of life or David Deamer’s  First life. Read my story ‘Wordfall’ on my Grammar for Dreamers blog. For additional content: Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay). To watch my regularly posted videos of linguistic geekery, follow me on Instagram @grammarfordreamers or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/ Are you enjoying these episodes? Would you like to hear more? Subscribe on  Apple podcasts,  Spotify,  Google podcasts, or wherever you like to listen.

In this episode we’re going to address three questions. What’s a word? What was did it feel like when life first emerged on the Earth? When’s the first (or the last) time you made a real decision? And I’m going to try to convince you that these questions all have something to do with each other. I believe that thinking about words will give us a bit of insight about what it was like when life first emerged on the Earth. These two things – life and language – for me share two qualities: that they’re both incredibly commonplace, and they’re both overwhelmingly mysterious. Also, both require boundary making, whether that takes the form of a cell membrane (life) or a self membrane (language). These boundaries cultivate a space in which new ideas can land. For more about membranes and the origins of life, read Pier Luigi Luisi’s <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Emergence-Life-Chemical-Origins-Synthetic/dp/0521528011" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> The emergence of life</a> or David Deamer’s <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Life-Discovering-Connections-between/dp/0520274458" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> First life</a>. Read my story <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2021/10/20/wordfall/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">‘Wordfall’</a> on my <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Grammar for Dreamers blog</a>. For additional content: <a href="http://eepurl.com/huKgbf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter</a> (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay). To watch my regularly posted videos of linguistic geekery, follow me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a> or on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/</a> Are you enjoying these episodes? Would you like to hear more? Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1020649611" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Spotify</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmZlZWRidXJuZXIuY29tL1N0cnVjdHVyZWRWaXNpb25z?ep=14" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Google podcasts</a>, or wherever you like to listen.

Episode 68 Life, language and other mysteries

When did you learn that the earth travels round the sun and not the other way round? And when you talk to yourself, which one of the dialoguing characters is you? Language generates multiple selves, and each self comes with its own built in worldview. Is it superstitious to think of selves that are wiser than us, that are protective, that wish to bless us? Perhaps it’s reckless not to. The story I discuss in this episode is called ‘Go’. It’s just been published in the  Running Wild Anthology of Stories, vol 5. I learned about imperatives in Omotic languages from reading work by Alexandra Aikhenvald. (See reference list below.) And the discussion of postmodernism is based on the following quote from Madan Sarup’s book, Identity, culture and the postmodern world: ‘Copernicus, Darwin, Marx and Freud have all, in their different ways, decentred the human subject. By “decentering”, I mean that individual consciousness can no longer be seen as the origin of meaning, knowledge and action.’ (Sarup, 1996, p. 46) References Aikhenvald, A. (2010). Imperatives and commands. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sarup, M. (1996). Identity, culture and the postmodern world. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. For additional content: Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay). To watch my regularly posted videos of linguistic geekery, follow me on Instagram @grammarfordreamers or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/ Are you enjoying these episodes? Would you like to hear more? Subscribe on  Apple podcasts,  Spotify,  Google podcasts, or wherever you like to listen.

When did you learn that the earth travels round the sun and not the other way round? And when you talk to yourself, which one of the dialoguing characters is you? Language generates multiple selves, and each self comes with its own built in worldview. Is it superstitious to think of selves that are wiser than us, that are protective, that wish to bless us? Perhaps it’s reckless not to. <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2021/09/10/go/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The story I discuss in this episode is called ‘Go’</a>. It’s just been published in the <a href="https://runningwildpress.com/RunningWildCatalog/product/running-wild-anthology-of-stories-volume-5/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Running Wild Anthology of Stories, vol 5</a>. I learned about imperatives in Omotic languages from reading work by <a href="https://www.aikhenvaldlinguistics.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alexandra Aikhenvald</a>. (See reference list below.) And the discussion of postmodernism is based on the following quote from Madan Sarup’s book, Identity, culture and the postmodern world: ‘Copernicus, Darwin, Marx and Freud have all, in their different ways, decentred the human subject. By “decentering”, I mean that individual consciousness can no longer be seen as the origin of meaning, knowledge and action.’ (Sarup, 1996, p. 46) References Aikhenvald, A. (2010). Imperatives and commands. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sarup, M. (1996). Identity, culture and the postmodern world. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. For additional content: <a href="http://eepurl.com/huKgbf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter</a> (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay). To watch my regularly posted videos of linguistic geekery, follow me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a> or on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/</a> Are you enjoying these episodes? Would you like to hear more? Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1020649611" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Spotify</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmZlZWRidXJuZXIuY29tL1N0cnVjdHVyZWRWaXNpb25z?ep=14" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Google podcasts</a>, or wherever you like to listen.

Episode 67 Imperative blessings

Linguist Jodie Clark explores creative ways of imagining social transformation.

Is an enlightened society a society without language? This episode explores what starlings can teach us about selves, the space that surrounds the experience of being, and how to create a more welcoming world.   The story I discuss in this episode is called  ‘The end of language’.   The hack I mention for finding the subject and verb of a clause is called the question-tag probe. Here’s a video on how to use it to find the subject, and here’s one on how to find the verb. Have you ever seen a starling murmuration? Watch this  video from the RSPB, and be prepared to be amazed (or even, enlightened).   For additional content:   Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay).   To watch my regularly posted videos of linguistic geekery, follow me on Instagram @grammarfordreamers or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/

Is an enlightened society a society without language? This episode explores what starlings can teach us about selves, the space that surrounds the experience of being, and how to create a more welcoming world. The story I discuss in this episode is called <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2021/08/18/the-end-of-language/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> ‘The end of language’</a>. The hack I mention for finding the subject and verb of a clause is called the question-tag probe. Here’s <a href="https://youtu.be/US6RpwUBoUg" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">a video on how to use it to find the subject</a>, and here’s <a href="https://youtu.be/XgKAzVU8HsE" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">one on how to find the verb</a>. Have you ever seen a starling murmuration? Watch this <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/starling/starling-murmurations/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> video from the RSPB</a>, and be prepared to be amazed (or even, enlightened). For additional content: <a href="http://eepurl.com/huKgbf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter</a> (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay). To watch my regularly posted videos of linguistic geekery, follow me on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a> or on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/Grammarfordreamers/</a>

Episode 66 A more welcoming world

Have you ever repeated a word over and over again to yourself to experience the dissolution of its meaning? What if you were to do that with the word ‘me’? When I was a little kid, repeating the word ‘me’ became a doorway to a world where I was freed from the self that language had created. It was trippy. In this episode we’ll discuss the role of language in creating, dissolving and protecting selves. In my academic research I analyse transcripts of conversations to identify the shape of the social structure that emerges from people talking about everyday experiences. I look for grammatical patterns in the transcripts, asking these questions:  What ‘selves’ are constructed here? What is the shape of the social structure here? What are the possibilities for transformation here? *  One transformative possibility that has emerged from this type of analysis is that selves need to be protected. Can language protect them? Think about the work you own name does in constructing your social self. But an anthropological look at naming systems makes it clear that names are less about protecting selfhood, and more about establishing someone’s place in a social structure. Even the seemingly ordinary principle that there are girls’ names for girls and boys’ names for boys, for instance, lets us know that we live in a culture that positions us in a binary gender structure. Having an established place in a social structure is not the same as knowing that your self is protected, revered, cherished. In my short story, ‘The Greenhouse’, I explore the idea that everything in the natural world has its own blueprint. – its chemical makeup, its DNA signature, etc. Everything in the natural world has something you could call a ‘name’. Or even a ‘self’. The ‘selves’ are in relationship with each other – molecules combine to form new molecules, membranes form that allow life to emerge What if the earth were to grant to one of its species the ability to play with these relationship-forming tools? What if human beings were offered a device to do creativity in exactly the same way the earth does creativity? Well so far, such a device has created social structures that produce division, hierarchy and exclusion. But there’s hope to be found in the etymology of the word ‘culture’. Culture is what we cultivate. Language is what we use to cultivate. To make a more welcoming social structure, let’s cultivate selves that felt safe and protected, that are crucibles for creation. Let’s use language to form linguistic membranes around selves, create spaces for new experiences, feelings, thoughts and ideas to emerge. *You can listen to me talk about this in more detail in  Episode 58, which is a recording of the talk I gave at Sheffield Hallam University in 2017 in honour of Professor Sara Mills’s retirement. For an even more detailed version, have a look at my book, Selves, bodies and the grammar of social worlds. Are you enjoying these episodes? Would you like to hear more? Subscribe on  Apple podcasts,  Spotify,  Google podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. For additional content: Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay). Follow me on Instagram, where I regularly post videos sharing bits of linguistic geekery that delight me: @grammarfordreamers

Have you ever repeated a word over and over again to yourself to experience the dissolution of its meaning? What if you were to do that with the word ‘me’? When I was a little kid, repeating the word ‘me’ became a doorway to a world where I was freed from the self that language had created. It was trippy. In this episode we’ll discuss the role of language in creating, dissolving and protecting selves. In my academic research I analyse transcripts of conversations to identify the shape of the social structure that emerges from people talking about everyday experiences. I look for grammatical patterns in the transcripts, asking these questions: <ul> <li>What ‘selves’ are constructed here?</li> <li>What is the shape of the social structure here?</li> <li>What are the possibilities for transformation here? *</li> </ul> One transformative possibility that has emerged from this type of analysis is that selves need to be protected. Can language protect them? Think about the work you own name does in constructing your social self. But an anthropological look at naming systems makes it clear that names are less about protecting selfhood, and more about establishing someone’s place in a social structure. Even the seemingly ordinary principle that there are girls’ names for girls and boys’ names for boys, for instance, lets us know that we live in a culture that positions us in a binary gender structure. Having an established place in a social structure is not the same as knowing that your self is protected, revered, cherished. In my short story, ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2021/07/213/the-greenhouse/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Greenhouse</a>’, I explore the idea that everything in the natural world has its own blueprint. – its chemical makeup, its DNA signature, etc. Everything in the natural world has something you could call a ‘name’. Or even a ‘self’. The ‘selves’ are in relationship with each other – molecules combine to form new molecules, membranes form that allow life to emerge What if the earth were to grant to one of its species the ability to play with these relationship-forming tools? What if human beings were offered a device to do creativity in exactly the same way the earth does creativity? Well so far, such a device has created social structures that produce division, hierarchy and exclusion. But there’s hope to be found in the etymology of the word ‘culture’. Culture is what we cultivate. Language is what we use to cultivate. To make a more welcoming social structure, let’s cultivate selves that felt safe and protected, that are crucibles for creation. Let’s use language to form linguistic membranes around selves, create spaces for new experiences, feelings, thoughts and ideas to emerge. *You can listen to me talk about this in more detail in <a href="https://structuredvisions.wordpress.com/2017/01/14/episode-58-communities-of-sara-mills/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Episode 58</a>, which is a recording of the talk I gave at Sheffield Hallam University in 2017 in honour of Professor Sara Mills’s retirement. For an even more detailed version, have a look at my book, <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9781137598424" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Selves, bodies and the grammar of social worlds</a>. Are you enjoying these episodes? Would you like to hear more? Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1020649611" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Spotify</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmZlZWRidXJuZXIuY29tL1N0cnVjdHVyZWRWaXNpb25z?ep=14" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Google podcasts</a>, or wherever you like to listen. For additional content: <a href="http://eepurl.com/huKgbf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Subscribe to the monthly Grammar for Dreamers newsletter</a> (and get a copy of the Grammar for Dreamers screenplay). Follow me on Instagram, where I regularly post videos sharing bits of linguistic geekery that delight me: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>

Episode 65 Psychedelic linguistics

In this episode we explore the idea that intimacy is embedded in the structure of language, and that this same intimacy is embedded in the structure of life.   We challenge the idea that languages are made of words, as does a character in my short story, ‘The words of your language’, which was published in issue 13 of After Happy Hour Review.   We play the ‘think of a word’ game, which shows up on pages 7-8 of my screenplay, Grammar for Dreamers (http://eepurl.com/huKgbf).   We learn from Ed Yong’s article in The Atlantic about the role of membranes in the origin of life.   And we hear how Coyote tricked human beings into believing that language started with them, and that they’re the only ones who possess it in  my fable called ‘Coyote’s  trick’.   We ask this question, which comes from Grammar for Dreamers (http://eepurl.com/huKgbf):   ‘What if language was not the endpoint of the earth’s evolution, but rather, its starting point? What if language was what the earth has always been doing?’ (p. 36)   And finally, we explore the flipside of intimacy: hierarchy, domination, colonisation.   Are you enjoying these episodes? Would you like to hear more? Subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. For additional content, follow me on Instagram, where I regularly post videos sharing bits of linguistic geekery that delight me: @grammarfordreamers

In this episode we explore the idea that intimacy is embedded in the structure of language, and that this same intimacy is embedded in the structure of life. We challenge the idea that languages are made of words, as does a character in my short story, ‘The words of your language’, which was published in <a href="https://issuu.com/afterhappyhourreview/docs/issue_13" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">issue 13 of After Happy Hour Review</a>. We play the ‘think of a word’ game, which shows up on pages 7-8 of my screenplay, <a href="http://eepurl.com/huKgbf" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Grammar for Dreamers</a> (<a href="http://eepurl.com/huKgbf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://eepurl.com/huKgbf</a>). We learn from <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/interlocking-puzzle-allowed-life-emerge/595945/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Ed Yong’s article in The Atlantic</a> about the role of membranes in the origin of life. And we hear how Coyote tricked human beings into believing that language started with them, and that they’re the only ones who possess it in <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2021/06/23/coyotes-trick/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> my fable called ‘Coyote’</a><a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2021/06/23/coyotes-trick/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">s</a> <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2021/06/23/coyotes-trick/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> trick’</a>. We ask this question, which comes from <a href="http://eepurl.com/huKgbf" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Grammar for Dreamers</a> (<a href="http://eepurl.com/huKgbf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://eepurl.com/huKgbf</a>): ‘What if language was not the endpoint of the earth’s evolution, but rather, its starting point? What if language was what the earth has always been doing?’ (p. 36) And finally, we explore the flipside of intimacy: hierarchy, domination, colonisation. Are you enjoying these episodes? Would you like to hear more? Subscribe on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/structured-visions/id1020649611" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Apple podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/0FuAjqK9g2eWKyZulNeMoe?si=g74tqwUlRUWe7r5wYtqYjQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;dl_branch=1" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmZlZWRidXJuZXIuY29tL1N0cnVjdHVyZWRWaXNpb25z?ep=14" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Google podcasts</a>, or wherever you like to listen. For additional content, follow me on Instagram, where I regularly post videos sharing bits of linguistic geekery that delight me: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@gramma</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">rfo</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">rdreamers</a>

Episode 64 The intimacy embedded in language

Here’s how to get fascinated by language if you’re not already. This might even feel a little bit like a transcendent, or mystical experience.  Find a window and look through it. Focus first on the scene outside the window. Then focus on the windowpane itself. Toggle your attention back forth between the windowpane and the landscape outside.  Now think of a word, like cake. Thinking of the meaning of cake is like looking at the scene through the window. Thinking of the form of the word cake (the sounds, if it’s spoken, or the letters, if it’s written) is like looking at the windowpane. When we toggle between form and meaning, we can play with words or phrases that have more than one meaning. So you can play with phrases printed on ordinary objects, like a stick of deodorant. ‘Original scent’. What was the original scent? The big bang? The Garden of Eden? What about ‘the first person’? What does that phrase conjure for you? A 3.2-million-year-old ape named Lucy? Or that guy in Eden called Adam? Or maybe you’re so fascinated by language that you thought of grammatical personhood. First person: I, me. Second person: you. Third person: he, she it. Can a language have more than three persons?   Yes! The Blackfoot language has five. Read my short story ‘The first person’ on grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com. Find me on Twitter: @jodieclarkling And on Instagram: @grammarfordreamers

Here’s how to get fascinated by language if you’re not already. This might even feel a little bit like a transcendent, or mystical experience. <ol> <li>Find a window and look through it.</li> <li>Focus first on the scene outside the window.</li> <li>Then focus on the windowpane itself.</li> <li>Toggle your attention back forth between the windowpane and the landscape outside.</li> </ol> Now think of a word, like cake. Thinking of the meaning of cake is like looking at the scene through the window. Thinking of the form of the word cake (the sounds, if it’s spoken, or the letters, if it’s written) is like looking at the windowpane. When we toggle between form and meaning, we can play with words or phrases that have more than one meaning. So you can play with phrases printed on ordinary objects, like a stick of deodorant. ‘Original scent’. What was the original scent? The big bang? The Garden of Eden? What about ‘the first person’? What does that phrase conjure for you? A 3.2-million-year-old ape named Lucy? Or that guy in Eden called Adam? Or maybe you’re so fascinated by language that you thought of grammatical personhood. First person: I, me. Second person: you. Third person: he, she it. Can a language have more than three persons?   Yes! The Blackfoot language has five. Read my short story ‘The first person’ on <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com</a>. Find me on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/jodieclarkling" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">@jodieclarkling</a> And on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>

Episode 63 Original scent

What we think about language reveals what we think about society. Will changing our ideas about language help us create a more welcoming world? In this episode we explore performative utterances like ‘You’re the boss’ or ‘You’re in charge’. These are more horrifying than you might think. Often we think of language and power as commodities that can be bestowed on individuals swimming around in the fish tank of social structure. What if instead we thought of language as a sustaining fluid that keeps our social selves safe? The call for all of us then would be to maintain the cleanliness of this fluid, so all are free to exist within it. Read my very short story ‘In charge’ on grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com. Find me on Twitter: @jodieclarkling And on Instagram: @grammarfordreamers

What we think about language reveals what we think about society. Will changing our ideas about language help us create a more welcoming world? In this episode we explore performative utterances like ‘You’re the boss’ or ‘You’re in charge’. These are more horrifying than you might think. Often we think of language and power as commodities that can be bestowed on individuals swimming around in the fish tank of social structure. What if instead we thought of language as a sustaining fluid that keeps our social selves safe? The call for all of us then would be to maintain the cleanliness of this fluid, so all are free to exist within it. Read my very short story ‘<a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/in-charge" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">In </a><a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2021/04/29/in-charge/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">charge</a>’ on <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com</a>. Find me on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/jodieclarkling" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">@jodieclarkling</a> And on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>

Episode 62 Who’s the boss? 

How do we respond to knowing that we’re stuck in a language system that’s built to contradict itself, and a social structure built upon exchange? We have to find ways to outwit the confines of language. Read my very short story ‘Echos and their others’ on grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com. Find me on Twitter: @jodieclarkling And on Instagram: @grammarfordreamers

How do we respond to knowing that we’re stuck in a language system that’s built to contradict itself, and a social structure built upon exchange? We have to find ways to outwit the confines of language. Read my very short story <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/2021/04/01/echos-and-their-others/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">‘Echos and their others’</a> on <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com</a>. Find me on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/jodieclarkling" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">@jodieclarkling</a> And on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>

Episode 61 Echos and their others

What’s new in Structured Visions, version 2.0? We’ll still be exploring social structure. We’ll still be geeking out about language. But now I’ll be linking up my discussions to my most recent experiment – combining creative writing with my love of linguistics. Find out more and read ‘Echos and their Others’ at grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com. I’m so glad you’re here! Find me on Twitter: @jodieclarkling And on Instagram: @grammarfordreamers

What’s new in Structured Visions, version 2.0? We’ll still be exploring social structure. We’ll still be geeking out about language. But now I’ll be linking up my discussions to my most recent experiment – combining creative writing with my love of linguistics. Find out more and read ‘Echos and their Others’ at <a href="https://grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">grammarfordreamers.wordpress.com</a>. I’m so glad you’re here! Find me on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/jodieclarkling" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">@jodieclarkling</a> And on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/grammarfordreamers/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow" target="_blank">@grammarfordreamers</a>

Teaser for Season 2: Grammar for dreamers

Welcome back to the Structured Visions podcast! In this episode we save the world. For me, saving the world means identifying ‘new ways of thinking about social structure’. Here are the things that need rethinking:  the inequitable distribution of resources the isolation and marginalisation of difference an impulse toward self-destruction, and a lack of respect for the natural world.  We can tackle all of these from a range of different disciplines, but on the Structured Visions podcast, we spend most of our time in the ‘linguistics’ section of the world library. If linguistics is going to change the world, we’ll need a new story about language. In the old story, language comes at the end of an evolutionary narrative – it’s a means by which complex organisms can communicate with their species. In the new story, language isn’t the newcomer – it was there from the beginning, approximately squillions of years ago. According to the new story, language is primarily a mechanism for producing structures. Like DNA, and RNA. To explore this idea, we need to know something about how DNA and RNA produce structures. Thankfully, we have John Perry from Stated Clearly and Your genome to help us. And we’ll have a look at a strand of language from Marcus, an American in Strasbourg. What structure is he producing when he says, about French people in the supermarket, ‘They’re all like, “Stupid American”’? So here’s how to save the world with linguistics, in three simple steps:  Put attention to the social structures produced in tiny strands of grammar Recognise any patterns that contribute to self-destruction Identify alternative patterns.  And then cultivate these alternative patterns. Imagine new structures, and cultivate them. What ideas do you have about saving the world? Let me know in the comments. Or on twitter: @jodieclarkling Can’t wait to hear from you. 

Welcome back to the Structured Visions podcast! In this episode we save the world. For me, saving the world means identifying ‘new ways of thinking about social structure’. Here are the things that need rethinking: <ul> <li>the inequitable distribution of resources</li> <li>the isolation and marginalisation of difference</li> <li>an impulse toward self-destruction, and</li> <li>a lack of respect for the natural world.</li> </ul> We can tackle all of these from a range of different disciplines, but on the Structured Visions podcast, we spend most of our time in the ‘linguistics’ section of the world library. If linguistics is going to change the world, we’ll need a new story about language. In the old story, language comes at the end of an evolutionary narrative – it’s a means by which complex organisms can communicate with their species. In the new story, language isn’t the newcomer – it was there from the beginning, approximately squillions of years ago. According to the new story, language is primarily a mechanism for producing structures. Like DNA, and RNA. To explore this idea, we need to know something about how DNA and RNA produce structures. Thankfully, we have <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwibgNGe4aY" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">John Perry from Stated Clearly</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG7uCskUOrA" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Your genome</a> to help us. And we’ll have a look at a strand of language from Marcus, an American in Strasbourg. What structure is he producing when he says, about French people in the supermarket, ‘They’re all like, “Stupid American”’? So here’s how to save the world with linguistics, in three simple steps: <ul> <li>Put attention to the social structures produced in tiny strands of grammar</li> <li>Recognise any patterns that contribute to self-destruction</li> <li>Identify alternative patterns.</li> </ul> And then cultivate these alternative patterns. Imagine new structures, and cultivate them. What ideas do you have about saving the world? Let me know in the comments. Or on twitter: @jodieclarkling Can’t wait to hear from you.

Episode 60 How linguistics can save the world

Linguist, communication expert and digital media scholar Erika Darics asks ‘Shouldn’t scholars in Critical Discourse Studies be political activists? What is the point of exposing injustice if we stop there?’ In this episode I address Erika’s question. Spoiler alert: the answer is a resounding YES. And I celebrate the question ‘What is the point?’ Please keep sending me suggestions for podcast topics. I welcome them with an open imagination and a commitment to enquiry and activism.

Linguist, communication expert and digital media scholar <a href="http://www.aston.ac.uk/lss/staff-directory/erikadarics/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Erika Darics</a> asks ‘Shouldn’t scholars in Critical Discourse Studies be political activists? What is the point of exposing injustice if we stop there?’ In this episode I address Erika’s question. Spoiler alert: the answer is a resounding YES. And I celebrate the question ‘What is the point?’ Please keep sending me suggestions for podcast topics. I welcome them with an open imagination and a commitment to enquiry and activism.

Episode 59 Enquiry, imagination and action

Sara Mills

In this episode I share the talk I gave at the Symposium at Sheffield Hallam University on January 12, 2017, in honour of Professor Sara Mills’s retirement. Many thanks to all who participated in the event, including fellow speakers, Chris Christie, Lucy Jones, Shân Wareing and Karen Grainger. Special thanks to Dave Sayers and Alice Bell for organising such a moving tribute to Sara. Is there something you’d like me to discuss in an upcoming podcast? Get in touch! Click here to access the slides from the talk.

In this episode I share the talk I gave at the Symposium at Sheffield Hallam University on January 12, 2017, in honour of <a href="http://www4.shu.ac.uk/mediacentre/professor-sara-mills" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Professor Sara Mills</a>’s retirement. Many thanks to all who participated in the event, including fellow speakers, <a href="http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/aed/staff/academic/christine-christie/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Chris Christie</a>, <a href="https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/people/lucy.jones" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Lucy Jones</a>, <a href="http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/about-us/people-finder/prof-shan-wareing" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Shân Wareing</a> and <a href="https://www.shu.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/staff-profiles/karen-grainger" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Karen Grainger</a>. Special thanks to <a href="https://www.shu.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/staff-profiles/dave-sayers" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Dave Sayers</a> and <a href="https://www.shu.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/staff-profiles/alice-bell" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Alice Bell</a> for organising such a moving tribute to Sara. Is there something you’d like me to discuss in an upcoming podcast? Get in touch! Click <a href="https://structuredvisions.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/communities_of_sara_mills_slides.pdf" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> to access the slides from the talk.

Episode 58 Communities of Sara Mills

Structured Visions

The best episodes for anyone looking to learn more about topics such as happiness, fulfillment, depression and psychology/mental health in general. With interviews with industry experts, personal stories of individuals, this topic has lessons applicable to everyone. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!

Best Episodes on Mental Health, Emotions & Thoughts

The best podcast episodes on parenting. Interviewing experts and talking through common issues surrounding parenting. This topic is filled with important lessons and insights for anyone listening. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!