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Cadwell NOT Caldwell
Closed loop bombast
[5 minute read ]
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I might be stretching it a bit but I think confirmation bias may envelop believing oneself is correct in one's thinking solely because of the usage of a language is echoed in the same country as one resides. That takes a little bit of explaining or untangling, I suspect.
In England, in my world, a sweater is the same as a jumper. In the United States of America I believe a sweater is a sweatshirt and is worn by athletes, and, who many United States of America citizens call, 'jocks'. I have only come across the word 'jocks' in a derogatory sense. I think 'Biff' in 'Back to The Future' is a 'jock'. Apparently, jocks wear United States of 'American English' sweaters, which are sweatshirts with motifs and designs on them, so John Travolta in 'Grease' goes from a leather-clad tearaway greaser to become a jock by the end of the story. But 'Grease' was set in the 1950s and originated from a 1971 stage play. (The film was released in 1978.) Perhaps a jock wasn't scorned as being a fool back then. Maybe there was no such thing as a jock before 1980.
I have always been one to allow my scope of attention and belief in possible realities to expand as far as it can go and then try to bring everything into focus, carrying with it all the anomalies I discover in the sifting process, as well as any common themes throughout. The idea that some citizens of The United States of America think that their version of English is the only correct one largely comes from YouTube videos mocking United States of America citizens. I suppose if one sees enough of them one really does start to believe that there is something to it. Yet, any compilation by dint of its intent to be a collection of similar episodes or occasions will, of course, give a distorted reality if it is taken to be indicative of an average. It would only take a number of these videos to confirm to a viewer that the first one they saw is accurately portraying a nation as foolish.
Reading a book means to me, placing myself in the same environment the characters are in. It would be strange to criticise a writer who has set a story in the Antarctic, where it is always cold and treeless, for not mentioning birds-song or sun-bathing or deck-chairs. Likewise, it would be foolish to criticise a writer for using the language of a country and its citizens as being incorrect. For example, a 'servo' in Australia is not a 'servomechanism' in British engineering. Roadside rescue and repairs might be puzzling if there is any confusion between the two in Australia.
British roadside vehicle repairman: 'How do you do? May I hazard a guess that I am arrived at the scene of a breakdown and you are the driver of the vehicle?
Australian driver: 'Orrr, You're right there, mate!'
After a period of meticulous looking and testing and brow-mopping with a handkerchief: 'I say, my examination is complete and it would appear you need a new servo.'
'Orrr, it was fine yesterday and I like the folk who own it.'
'You don't own it?'
'It's been in the family for years.'
'Your family owns the car?'
'Nah, I own it.'
'But not the servo?'
'Nah! I don't own the servo. The Henderson's own the servo. I went there yesterday to fill up and get some beer. It's late so it's shut now. Is is going to be closed for good?'
Australian's might call a service station or even a petrol station with a fast-food outlet a 'servo', but in England a servo is a servomechanism: that is 'any motor-driven system with a feedback element built in' - SparkFun Electronics
A servomotor or servomechanism often has a closed-loop feedback system. An electric fan cooling a car engine is an example of an electric or electronic servomechanism with the fan as the motorised element in the system and an electronic thermometer determining whether the fan is on, off, or at what speed it runs at.
Of course, most writers might steer clear of vernacular that could confuse their readers but they understand that the version of the language they are using may be different to how other countries understand it. If they cannot fathom this, I suggest that confusion may ensue.
An example of 'closed-loop' thinking is deciding that a piece of writing should be changed to suit one's own way of thinking. A gun hidden under a coat does not have to be a snub-nosed 38 simply because not everyone outside of The United States of America knows what a snub-nosed gun or a 38 is. In England, for example, I can snub someone with a snub-nose.
Like the English road-side car repairman and the Australian there is just a mess if we do not understand how each other's language is used. Closed-loop thinking, I suggest, comes as a result of over-confidence born out of instilled self-belief through belonging to a particular group of people. If something doesn't fit the of our schooling or social group, we are wont to reject it.
But what happens if closed-loop thinking, or possession of a belief system that derives from confirmation bias, is endorsed by a psychology degree or a PhD in psychiatry? Oh no! We could have people who are convinced that everyone else is wrong AND be in an influential position. It only takes the belief system of a nation to endorse the thinking of a citizen of the same nation and we have a closed-loop feedback scenario.
I came across someone who insisted that British pop music of the 1960s was not influenced by drugs. This was someone who's PhD on 1960s UK pop music rested on that premise. This person had never heard of the Kray Twins, the 1960s east end of London gangsters, who resisted selling drugs unlike their main rival gang in Liverpool. This person had never heard of 'Mods and Rockers'. This person managed to make a case for drugs being entirely absent from the 1960s music scene. In any case, this person asked their dad. So there! However, if this person wished to show that any musician that did take recreational drugs never had a hit song or was otherwise successful, then they would be able to endlessly preach that. Of course, if you find only what you seek you won't recognise anything else as being relevant or useful. And Mick Jagger and Keith Richards don't have drug-related convictions from 1967 specifically, Mick Jagger was charged with illegally possessing four tablets containing amphetamine sulphate and methylamphetamine hydrochloride (meth), and Keith Richards for allowing his house to be used for the purpose of taking drugs. A third man at Keith Richards home was convicted of being in possession of heroin.
The weird thing is, this person with a PhD in psychiatry told me that they had asked the Rolling Stones manager about drug usage and was told that there was none in the 1960s. 1967 was also the year that The Beatles released 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band'. It is not a particularly trippy album but it does have 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' on it. The Beatles, of course, denied any link to LSD or acid though. So where did they get the lyrics from?
I have come across someone with a degree in psychology directly telling people on a creative writing learning course that they are just plain wrong and how else they should think; people who have approached creative writing, rightfully in my eyes, with an open mind. They were hoping to let their imagination fly while trying to build suitable viewing points to show everyone else what is going on. I mentioned that the person to which his comment referred was practicing with different ways of understanding writing. His comment has been subsequently removed by the learning platform.
It is a dangerous world if we just take anything at face value; operate with a closed-loop confirmation-bias method of understanding our world; trust that grandiloquent writers or orators are honest or correct; or accept that a qualification denotes a learned person who can give an objective view or honest account of things.
Here is an interesting site for Beatles fans. I have no idea how accurate it all is:
An example:
Thursday May 25th 1967 - John's Rolls Royce, psychedelically painted, is delivered to John's house from J P Fallon (Coachworks).
Clever marketing or just fascination?