Tuesday, July 1, 2014

The Power of the Written and Spoken Word

    I'll admit this is something that, while I like the idea, I have been putting off because I am not a fan of how my voice sounds to my own ears. perhaps it is different to others, but to me...eh...not so much. And it only sounds strange to me when recorded, so guess will see. The following will be typed, but, if you're curious, and I apprehensively hope you are, there will be a recording of it as well, for the sake of comparison, attached at the end.
 
    People have this funny way of arguing over if writing things or speaking them is more persuasive. Personally I think that, depending upon the topic, they are more or less equal. Yes, the conveying of emotions may be limited when it comes to writing, but if you word things right it really isn't. There's a reason newspapers and various other things can incite riots simply from putting a few emotionally charged words into an article. Some words have strong connotative meanings, ones that override the dictionary definition. Such things may vary from culture to culture, even person to person, but there is still that meaning buried deep inside there. While saying 'Man retrieves cat from tree' may not be so enticing, stating 'Man rescues pet from tree' gives it a bit more meaning. Retrieves compared to rescues, and pet compared to simply cat, is enough to give more than the simple facts do. Little words like that, when used correctly, can evoke a response.
    Voice, too, has its pluses, of course. You can hear the emotion, feel it, without any added benefit of emotional words; of course adding those only drives the point home. You can hear if someone is near to tears or simply passionate about an issue, the changing tones and octaves of one's voice can lead to just as big a reaction as written words. We may generally take our voices for granted when it comes to this, but it is true. And some people have simply wonderful voices that make it so it is most certainly better that they speak things than write them.
    In Second Life, you do not have but so much of a choice. Sure, you can opt for using voice, but that doesn't always means it'll work or that others even can hear you. The generally used media would be typed words, which, of course, is usually accompanied by an emoticon, a simple 'lol', or some emote depending on what is going on. Those various additions you don't see in much besides casual conversation, can add to things as well. It does leave the chance for people to misconstrue meanings, which is probably why the additions are relied upon, but you can still get a point across. Really, I think that we feel a need to use those other bits than 'just' words because we don't want to have someone misunderstand since they cannot hear us nor see our facial expressions.
    Even when you use your voice, too, if you, perhaps, are more of a monotone person, you may rely more heavily on your facial expression and hand gestures. Words aren't always enough to get a point across with either medium, but they are a good base and can do some damage when necessary. So much ill will can be caused because of a carefully placed word here and there, in both lives, with voice or written things. There's a reason drama is abound in SL.
    Both ways have their upsides, but they also have their downsides. As I mentioned, the downside to writing is it is easier to misunderstand, but with actually speaking...well, you may stumble over your own words more often or you might not be able to give as educated sounding an answering and instead flail your hands about trying to explain the word you forgot (I know I do that often enough). I know that sometimes my smart sounding words don't make it form my brain to my tongue...and then my tongue does all this stuff that I swear I didn't tell it to do; I'm pretty much convinced it has a mind of its own half the time. But when I'm typing I could, in theory, look words up. I don't personally, because I'm lazy and I have a backup not as smart word anyway when my brain just draws a blank. Or I just describe something. I admit to doing so in both speaking in writing; of course I can't use my hands in the latter to 'shape out' what it is I'm talking about, so if I want to give a timely response, I have to revert to simple description like 'the wood thing holding the awning up'. But for people who are a bit less lazy, they may look such things up and be able to give a halfways dignified response, whereas if they were speaking they'd have to do something else more than likely.
    It really depends on what you want to get across and to how many people if voice or writing is the best way to go. If you want people to hear things exactly how you do, then voice is clearly what you want. But if you want to get a point across and call it a day, perhaps writing would be more the way to go. Either way, it is mostly the wording, and the extra add-ons, that do count.

    And, as promised, my spoken version...please be kind... If you hear water running in the background, sorry, my fish tank. I also realize I'm stuttering and pausing, but I'm keeping it that way, since my point is general speaking and writing, not practiced and manicured. So...hope you put up with it and enjoy :)
    Oh, and, of course, feel free to listen/read at the same time. There are pics, and it's on youtube, but only because I couldn't get this up here without going through movie maker and youtube >.>


23 comments:

  1. Ah, you should hear my voice just! *coughs, sniffs, rasps* ;-)
    Your voice is totally ok, but people are almost always not like their voices because they hear it so different than from a tape. And at least I understand your English almost completely. ;-)

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    1. Almost completely... Well, I speak American, so that might have something to do with it :P
      And you aren't feeling well, so you've an excuse lol

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  2. no! again your blog swallowed my comment whole! too tired to type again, tomorrow. :)

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    1. It did? O.O Did you upset it somehow that I don't know of? lol But, yes, better tomorrow then, looking forward to it :)

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  3. seems so, and I always forget I want to type at a safe place :P and copypaste then...going away to do that now.

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  4. I agree with Mederia on your voice, and could add that for me you sound nice, very young, definitely US (as opposed to UK) and that it fits your typing, I hear it as rather fast (maybe because it´s a not native language for me though, not sure) like you type faster than me (thus the more typos too, and I hear some 'typos as well' :P) -but- I fear if I´d have had the text only as a spoken one, and not able to 'replay', I´d not have understood parts of it, while I was able to understand the whole written text without needing to look anything up.
    I could not rp if the medium in second life was not text. I´m good enough with reading and writing english, but not with the spoken language. And actually I probably couldn´t rp if it was in my best language either. Just imagine the drama if you´d have to reply to 5 or more people´s posts if you´d not be able to scroll up and reread :P Conveying meaning or emotion, well, yes, of course the way someone talks or stresses words and such can be heard in voice, but then if you type a text and reread it before you send and maybe exchage something you didn´t mean as you 'said' it, and then the written version might convey rather what you really wanted to say than quickly spoken words which can´t be taken back, and, well, I´d probably not want to rp with myself if not in text, cause it would be a lot of 'ehhhh...I mean...' (long pause looking stuff up in dictionary), or 'no wait! that´s not what I meant, only confused two words, I meant xy', and tearing the IC words and sentences apart and would become hard to understand.

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    1. Young..that's not a new one. used to hearing that, but least I've gotten past sounding -really- young when recorded since a while, so yay! :D And I'm not really talking fast, I mean I do talk a bit faster than most here, though i was trying to be more, ehm, slower than I would in 'normal' conversation,, but not much, so could be just cause not native language for you...or I'm hearing things wrong and I really was talking faster than hoped :P But least I wasn't talking like a hyperactive squirrel, which I am prone to do, I know.
      And...ehm...yes. Yes to RP being better for text-style. Since, I mena, for one, I'd be nervous laughing a lot in some tense situations and, for two, with how often Taeem wants Malla to sing for him...yea, never would've happened. My looks may be compared to an elf's, but I fear I can't sing like one ;)
      But...trying to roleplay while looking stuff up..that would be more funny than anything, so, yes, most definitely rp is better for text. Especially when online since you have to type out everything you do...that...would be weird to speak.

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  5. For me voice would be no option for RP, and I think for many not, only one reason probably the things I mentioned, of course there are many others, like that people play different chars which they wouldn´t want all to have the same voice (just think of the people who tell you in their profile what the voice of their char is supposed to sound like or a 34.700 yo male dragon talking with the voice of an 18 yo shy girl), or play a different gender, or...imagine if all the alts of everyone would sound the same ;) Then there are a lot of people in sl who love it because there they don´t feel excluded, not all just don´t want to but can´t use voice, I remember I asked for someone who had IMed me on it in a meeting to please stay with written text, someone who is deaf (of course you could now say, well but voice would be better for blind people, but I think there´d be more deaf people than blind people in sl for obvious reasons and written is the 'traditional' medium in rp sims as far as I know). Then there are things like there are voices you simply can´t stand (at least to me) and I´d much rather read a text of those people than hear them, or imagine 10 people in a rp scene, all on voice and with their fish tank, quarreling children, washing machine, tv of their hubbies etc on :P or imagine 5 people all with different native tongue and different accents and levels of english rp-ing in a scene...'what did you say?' 'could you reapeat' 'fuck what is the word for...' and so on :P - you´d have no ((xy Resident OOC:.......) either and imagine how hard it would be to find out what is direct speech and what not and what is ic and what not etc. A voice is something wonderful (well, can be at least :P) but for RP text wins out by far for me. For 'other sl', well, text, too, as I understand sl it´s meant to give people a world away from their own world and I think sl would be far less popular if people would have to fear that someone recognized their bosses' or wife's or child's or parent's voice...it would take a lot of the freedom out of sl I think, and that´s why voice is an option but not obligatory I guess. People are free to only talk to people who would 'voice with them', as people are free to only communicate via written text, those twain shall not meet then and all is well. And as much as a voice can express emotions, maybe, depends on the voice too I think :P, better or make the 'lol' unneeded, for me for RP text beats voice, by far, the disadvantes if voice was used in RP are much more and important for me than the advantage would be, for other things it´s more debatable I guess, but the points made remain.

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    1. Okay, now the long one.
      Like I said, I don't see RP really working at well if it was voice, either, so I fully agree with you on that.I think, too, SL is better for text, too, even with voice being an option. Chats may lag, but text is the most fitting. And I'm not just saying that because I'm someone who'd rather text than talk on a phone and such, but jsut because it's what makes sense to me.
      The point I was trying to make was mostly that the two could be interchangeable for some things, and one fitting something better than the other would. In this case, SL and text fit better than SL and voice for, well, the reasons you mentioned actually.
      I could play devil's advocate and argue a few points, but since I agree with you, not so much of a point to do that.

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    2. And clearly, by the long one, I did not mean my reply :P
      Though I will say this; jsut tried to imagine what you were describing...and doing that too often could get me a headache lol

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    3. But you know that Firestorm has a voice-changer implemented? :P So much for alts and recognizing voices of some people. I just came across a DJ who had a voice - oh my! To fell in love with it immediately. I told the one hiring this DJ that this voice is so wonderful, that he has to use a voice-generator. The answer was: He does. ...

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    4. I saw my reply on voice generators getting too long, so wrote my comment into my own blog, to not have to cut it into pieces here again:
      http://7sec0nds.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/voice-in-sl-reply-to-a-blog-comment-on-the-topic/

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    5. damn, now I´m really curious about how good the firestorm voice generator might be, but there is always so much to do...like typign up notice after notice, and notices to clarify notices when people tell me they might have understood them not as they were meant and so on :P

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    6. *coughs and goes red* sorry...
      ;-)

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    7. But I looked closer at the voice-thingy and it seems, it needs some extra-clicks at the internet to work and 750 L$ per month per 'voice-pack' - it -is- the voice-morphin-option from the official viewer 2. But the price is still less than one gown of an avatar and so I would guess, no real problem for people to use it who really 'needs' it.

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    8. no, that´s not so much compared to lots of things people get for their pixelated selves, -if- RP-sims would forcefully use voice for RP instead of text -and- I´d keep RPing then, I´d probably use that then, for alts either way (not just to keep people from knowing it´s alts but because it would be weird to have different chars talking with the same voice just like I don´t dress all my avis with the same outfit) and if I´d really want to RP so badly I´d put up with voice, for my main account then too for privacy issues. I might put a 'uses firestorm voice generator' or something in my profile where others put their 'voice verified' :P that could be an option maybe even thinking of that, if that would automatically appear in people´s profiles like the account´s age, so others could still not know if the hot 20 years old girl is a 60 year old guy, but they -would- know it´s not the persons unaltered voice eitherway. but I don´t think I´m smarter than all LL employees and am sure they had that idea already and either it doesn´t work technically, as you say extra-clicks on internet are needed (that btw would keep me from it more than the fee, to say it with Ry´s words: lazy much :P ) or they thought about it but didn´t want to. either way their decision, I´ll live with it, or leave. I wonder if I´d quite RP if voice was forced, probably yes, enough drama as it is, wouldn´t want to have the added drama of 'you didn´t reply to remark 12, 35 and 141 of my last post' but I really should look at firestorm closer no idea where that option even hides...and as I was logged in I did, ok, no wonder, it´s in the Comm-tab, I only ever use that to tick autoresponse on when I do clean viewer installs

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    9. Kept telling myself would come back here and reply, but took a bit before my poor brain could process all of this at once :P
      Didn't know there was a voice changer on any viewer, paid for or not myself, but that's probably because, while I click and see what happens most often, never looked over in that direction, I guess, since I don't use the voice function.
      And, hm, somehow I think you're right, Taeem, that if you were to try to sue it, if for rp purposes or else, you would be the one to forget the clicks, and I say that with fondness lol And lazy much is a very good way to describe a lot of things, thank you *nods* But I think most would be with you if voice was the 'new' medium of rp-sims, with the leaving if that's the option that is for basically the reasons you say.

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  6. 'the wood thing holding the awning up'.
    and that´s perfectly understandable in text too :grins:

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    1. ooh boy, starting down here since it's the shortest bit :P
      And, yes, even without random hand gestures it could be understandable, just glad I didn't forget the word awning...which I may have almost done <.< >.>

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    2. well, I don´t -really- know the word 'awning', I read it before, in sl, and I could guess what it means so didn´t have to look it up, but it´s one of the words that forever want to only stay in my passive vocabulary and don´t make it to my active one I think, either way, roof or 'nods to the thingie above them' or something like that from you would have sufficed too :P

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    3. That...would have been a weird sentence 'leans on the wooden thingy holding the thingy above them up'. The height of RP, clearly :P

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  7. was not really that important to the post that you couldn´t have left it out in case of multiple thingy-need :P

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