User talk:Shadowchoir/babble

Babble is the concept that humans who are not paying attention are somewhat more equivalent to Markov chain/Chinese room AI: relying on repeating prior input and checking current input against prior input and output so as to fit into a social pattern. We do so through use of language and particular phrases and words, and in our inattentive states someone with the right babble will be entirely overlooked as not a threat or part of your community.

Babble is a useful concept in marketing, public relations, propaganda, and other social prospects. Being able to imitate the babble of a group means you can bypass their initial concerns quickly, if you know the right babble then you clearly know what's up, and can be trusted. As a concept, babble has only become more important and valuable in the internet age: given that in a lot of places, all that can be known of you is a pseudonym, avatar, and what you say, babble is all that's left for verification.

Babble is also known as lingo, dialect, buzzwords, shibboleths, jargon, style, aesthetic and words of power. If someone is talking to you in your language, directly and accurately, then you have no reason to mistrust them. Advertisement often tries to do this, with. . . varying levels of success (they often do better when they also redefine babble to their ends: very dangerous stuff).

Babble is how the subconscious verifies trust. Put forth a bit of babble, a bit of dialogue - "Darn those Democrats and their pandering, eh?" and if you get the right response, your brain automatically switches off a bunch of security: you're among people like you. Naturally, being aware of this is somewhat of a defense against being rendered vulnerable by the right babble, but most people are not aware: the right babble can get you into some very interesting places.

Response to differences in babble are culturally determined as mostly all that a difference in babble does is pull your attention to the conversation from whatever it was that previously occupied your attention: this can be quite alarming and startling for someone who doesn't realize what their brain is doing. Being aware that is what pulled your attention is important, and of course measuring what your response should be is also important.