Quote (shane_is_a_balla @ May 15 2016 07:25pm)

"Normal people", what if you're actually not normal, though? Not only that but why did you choose those words to formulate your sentence? Why not any other word, there are a plethora of synonyms for pretty much any of them. Why say contest and not competition? These arbitrary actions are ordained via unconscious processing/electrical impulses percolating through neural circuits. Where is the "pool" of words coming from? Your existing knowledge of course. Ergo, having vastly more knowledge & thus words, you can easily extrapolate would lead to utilizing a more thorough lexicon, more often. Moreover, when the paramount aspect of your life is being a professional student, and you're constantly reading academic pieces, what type of diction do you really think is going to randomly pop into your conscious awareness? The one you utilize/see/hear more often. We are really only a product of what we've been exposed to, and our will isn't as free as it may appear. When you have to explain something so fundamental to people & actually defend being well spoken as if you could help it, it certainly bodes for a bleak time imo.

Quote (shane_is_a_balla @ May 16 2016 01:25am)

"Normal people", what if you're actually not normal, though? Not only that but why did you choose those words to formulate your sentence? Why not any other word, there are a plethora of synonyms for pretty much any of them. Why say contest and not competition? These arbitrary actions are ordained via unconscious processing/electrical impulses percolating through neural circuits. Where is the "pool" of words coming from? Your existing knowledge of course. Ergo, having vastly more knowledge & thus words, you can easily extrapolate would lead to utilizing a more thorough lexicon, more often. Moreover, when the paramount aspect of your life is being a professional student, and you're constantly reading academic pieces, what type of diction do you really think is going to randomly pop into your conscious awareness? The one you utilize/see/hear more often. We are really only a product of what we've been exposed to, and our will isn't as free as it may appear. When you have to explain something so fundamental to people & actually defend being well spoken as if you could help it, it certainly bodes for a bleak time imo.

Quote (Neptunus @ May 16 2016 01:23am)

Based on my experience with other "professional students" it's not gonna look like what you just wrote for sure. At this point idk even if you're trolling or not... :wacko:

Contest vs. competition is not a case analogous to yours, cause both of the words are relatively frequent in common parlance. Erudition vs. being educated however do have a difference in how often they are used, and to answer your question on what is normal, i'd just go with the statistical definition of it which is the normal distribution. In essence that would mean that normal is the most frequently occurring. No need to play Socrates here like you just went through Philosophy 101.

E: synonym tip: you can use myriad in place of plethora in case you get repetitive like in this thread ;)

Quote (hoipolloi @ May 16 2016 04:48pm)

I agree with him regarding perpetual exposure to more esoteric words causing them to come to the fore in your diction. seems pretty obvious if you're constantly reading higher-level articles and books that those words will naturally usurp what was once a more "normal" speech. After that point it becomes an issue in the sense of having a thought in a certain abnormal amalgamation of words which lend eloquence to an otherwise clunky idea. I find myself in mid-speech trying to "dumb down" my words so that they make more sense and don't sound so douchey but I end up looking dumber. but if you don't do that, you look like a douche. weird situation

Quote (hoipolloi @ May 16 2016 08:48am)

I agree with him regarding perpetual exposure to more esoteric words causing them to come to the fore in your diction. seems pretty obvious if you're constantly reading higher-level articles and books that those words will naturally usurp what was once a more "normal" speech. After that point it becomes an issue in the sense of having a thought in a certain abnormal amalgamation of words which lend eloquence to an otherwise clunky idea. I find myself in mid-speech trying to "dumb down" my words so that they make more sense and don't sound so douchey but I end up looking dumber. but if you don't do that, you look like a douche. weird situation

Quote (Lil_Gueto @ May 16 2016 02:13pm)

Showing you have more than half a brain is often perceived as obnoxious.

It seems it's cool to be dumb lol, well, in australia at least.

Quote (Orakpo @ May 16 2016 09:38pm)

Yeah big words

Quote (shane_is_a_balla @ May 15 2016 07:25pm)

"Normal people", what if you're actually not normal, though? Not only that but why did you choose those words to formulate your sentence? Why not any other word, there are a plethora of synonyms for pretty much any of them. Why say contest and not competition? These arbitrary actions are ordained via unconscious processing/electrical impulses percolating through neural circuits. Where is the "pool" of words coming from? Your existing knowledge of course. Ergo, having vastly more knowledge & thus words, you can easily extrapolate would lead to utilizing a more thorough lexicon, more often. Moreover, when the paramount aspect of your life is being a professional student, and you're constantly reading academic pieces, what type of diction do you really think is going to randomly pop into your conscious awareness? The one you utilize/see/hear more often. We are really only a product of what we've been exposed to, and our will isn't as free as it may appear. When you have to explain something so fundamental to people & actually defend being well spoken as if you could help it, it certainly bodes for a bleak time imo.