"Dude, pass me the book" or "Could you please give me that book?". Which of the two phrases do you prefer, and which one would make you awkward? To me, both of them would be awkward if uttered by the wrong person, which would convey the wrong intent. If my co-worker (who I'm not friendly with) uses the first phrase, that would signal a lack of respect. If a friend uses the second one, that would signal aloofness.
However, this analysis of intent is often wrong. Both, my friend & the co-worker might be preoccupied with something else. In all honesty, I don't care about which phrase is used, they might not care either, but there are people who do. Your friend circle is a small group of people who don't misplace your intent, and then later start harboring good feelings towards you. As mentioned in my earlier blog post, difference in societal stratification and economic status plays a big role in perception of malcontent in the language. If a billionaire friend (Bill Gates is not my friend... yet) were to suggest that we get a chartered plane to some remote island, I'd have to decline and be sad about it. If someone from my circle suggested it, we'd start talking numbers and try to come up with a plan to either make it happen, or laugh at the idea as a joke.
Language and the words we utter, the grammar, plays a big role in how we are perceived by other human beings. The rule of the game is to use the language according to the setting and the person/people you want to impress or at the very least, not alienate. There is a reason Steve Jobs was the face of Apple Inc., even though Steve Woz designed and developed the computers. Enthusiasm is contagious, it is a positive life force that gets everyone excited around you. Conveying enthusiasm with words is an art form. Engineers(like me) are typically succinct and to the point, not a great quality to have in a social setup. However, being Spock like logical and terse, is an occupational hazard. This leads to the perception of mal-intent by others who do not communicate in a similar way (which is why most friend circles have people with one dominant occupation)
Enter, Google Mail's Smart Reply. Smart Reply in it's current form and the planned future upgrades (http://www.kurzweilai.net/ray-kurzweil-reveals-plans-for-linguistically-fluent-google-software) is going to change the way we (or rather I) communicate.
This is how most of my gmail group threads look like:
Alice> Hey Guys, We were thinking of doing a potluck this Saturday. Let me know if you guys are in.
Bob> Sure.
Carol> +2
Dave> +2, might be a bit late
With Smart Reply, here's what it'd look like:
Alice> Hey Guys, We were thinking of doing a potluck this Saturday. Let me know if you guys are in.
Bob> That sounds awesome. I'm in.
Carol> Sure thing. Do you want me to pick something up on the way.
Dave> Sounds good. We'll be there. Might be a bit late.
If you were the fifth person (Eve), which meetup would you go to? The people are the same, the event is the same, the intent is the same. Google's Smart Reply just made Bob, Carol and Dave sound a lot more affable and enthusiastic. In the absence of body language, written words are more likely to be misconstrued. Google's smart reply takes the intent of Alice/Bob/Dave, which is just "yes", and dresses it up in a way that is palatable to a majority of people. It changes a conversation with neutral tone to a positive one. Pretty soon one would have to work to convey apathy and antipathy in their conversation, and not have it introduced due to lack of time for the device in use (replying to a mail on phone).
One could also argue that as conversations get more positive, the net morale of the human race might improve (or at least amongst the people using Gmail). I don't think I should extrapolate this any further and guess the emergent properties or this cultural change. Small apps and features have changed human interactions in unpredictable ways (Twitter/Facebook have very well toppled/made governments, Uber/Lyft have caused a dip in Car ownerships). Let's hope for the best.
However, this analysis of intent is often wrong. Both, my friend & the co-worker might be preoccupied with something else. In all honesty, I don't care about which phrase is used, they might not care either, but there are people who do. Your friend circle is a small group of people who don't misplace your intent, and then later start harboring good feelings towards you. As mentioned in my earlier blog post, difference in societal stratification and economic status plays a big role in perception of malcontent in the language. If a billionaire friend (Bill Gates is not my friend... yet) were to suggest that we get a chartered plane to some remote island, I'd have to decline and be sad about it. If someone from my circle suggested it, we'd start talking numbers and try to come up with a plan to either make it happen, or laugh at the idea as a joke.
Language and the words we utter, the grammar, plays a big role in how we are perceived by other human beings. The rule of the game is to use the language according to the setting and the person/people you want to impress or at the very least, not alienate. There is a reason Steve Jobs was the face of Apple Inc., even though Steve Woz designed and developed the computers. Enthusiasm is contagious, it is a positive life force that gets everyone excited around you. Conveying enthusiasm with words is an art form. Engineers(like me) are typically succinct and to the point, not a great quality to have in a social setup. However, being Spock like logical and terse, is an occupational hazard. This leads to the perception of mal-intent by others who do not communicate in a similar way (which is why most friend circles have people with one dominant occupation)
Enter, Google Mail's Smart Reply. Smart Reply in it's current form and the planned future upgrades (http://www.kurzweilai.net/ray-kurzweil-reveals-plans-for-linguistically-fluent-google-software) is going to change the way we (or rather I) communicate.
This is how most of my gmail group threads look like:
Alice> Hey Guys, We were thinking of doing a potluck this Saturday. Let me know if you guys are in.
Bob> Sure.
Carol> +2
Dave> +2, might be a bit late
With Smart Reply, here's what it'd look like:
Alice> Hey Guys, We were thinking of doing a potluck this Saturday. Let me know if you guys are in.
Bob> That sounds awesome. I'm in.
Carol> Sure thing. Do you want me to pick something up on the way.
Dave> Sounds good. We'll be there. Might be a bit late.
If you were the fifth person (Eve), which meetup would you go to? The people are the same, the event is the same, the intent is the same. Google's Smart Reply just made Bob, Carol and Dave sound a lot more affable and enthusiastic. In the absence of body language, written words are more likely to be misconstrued. Google's smart reply takes the intent of Alice/Bob/Dave, which is just "yes", and dresses it up in a way that is palatable to a majority of people. It changes a conversation with neutral tone to a positive one. Pretty soon one would have to work to convey apathy and antipathy in their conversation, and not have it introduced due to lack of time for the device in use (replying to a mail on phone).
One could also argue that as conversations get more positive, the net morale of the human race might improve (or at least amongst the people using Gmail). I don't think I should extrapolate this any further and guess the emergent properties or this cultural change. Small apps and features have changed human interactions in unpredictable ways (Twitter/Facebook have very well toppled/made governments, Uber/Lyft have caused a dip in Car ownerships). Let's hope for the best.
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